The Foreign Office (FO) clarified on Friday that no announcement was made regarding a “high-level visit” from Saudi Arabia, stating that details would be unveiled once both sides came to a decision on the matter.

FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch made the clarification, in response to a question regarding alleged reports of the postponement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s expected visit to Pakistan, during her weekly press briefing.

“There has been no announcement from our side and we have not shared any details of any high-level visit from Saudi Arabia. When such a visit takes place and we have confirmed information and both sides agree to announce the visit we will make an announcement at the time,” Baloch said

In November last year, the Saudi crown prince’s visit to Pakistan was scheduled, but the FO announced its postponement on Nov 12. Since then, no such visit has materialised.

Baloch had informed Dawn.com at the time that the new date of his visit would be announced soon.

The crown prince had last visited Pakistan in February 2019 during the term of former prime minister Imran Khan. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had signed Memorandums of Understanding for investment cooperation during the visit.

The inaugural session of the Saudi-Pak Supreme Coordination Council was also held. The council was formed to put in place a high-level institutional mechanism to fast-track decisions in key areas of bilateral cooperation and for close monitoring of their implementation.

A day ago, KASB Securities chairman Ali Farid Khawaja had told Dawn.com that reports of the Saudi crown prince’s visit to Pakistan “should be a strong catalyst for investor sentiment” amid the country’s current economic conditions.