KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz supremo Nawaz Sharif met Prime Minister of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a tweet on Friday.

According to the minister, PML-N leader and daughter of the ex-premier, Maryam Nawaz, was also present at the meeting.

She said the two leaders discussed further strengthening of brotherly relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. They also deliberated on the solutions to the problems being faced by Pakistan. She said that Mr Sharif expressed good wishes for the Saudi leadership, according to dawn.com.

While there was no official mention from the Saudi side about the meeting and the PML-N did not share any photographs of it, the party’s official Twitter account shared the same statement as posted by Ms Aurangzeb.

The Sharifs had reached Saudi Arabia on April 11 to perform Umrah along with other family members. The former prime minister had departed from London while the PML-N chief organiser had departed from Pakistan. In a video shared by the party’s official Twitter account on April 14, Nawaz can be seen encircled by security personnel as he visited the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

No official word on meeting from the kingdom

A few days later, the PML-N had also shared pictures of Nawaz paying a visit to Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar could be seen accompanying him while Saudi personnel provided them with security.

Some reports had indicated that Nawaz would prolong his trip till mid-May, to spend time with his son Hussain Nawaz, who has spent the past year in Saudi Arabia at his home there.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023