ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that at least eight memoranda of understanding (MoUs) will be signed between Islamabad and Riyadh during Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s upcoming two-day visit to Pakistan.
Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Qureshi said the Saudi royal did not wish to visit Pakistan just to hold discussions; so “homework” was done, and a Saudi team visited Pakistan in the last few days to assess the investment potential in various sectors of the country on the directives of the crown prince, he added.
He said after holding talks with Pakistani government officials, the Saudi “advance team” reported back to authorities in their country and based on those discussions, the government expects to sign “at least 8 MoUs” with Saudi Arabia — the details of which will be revealed later.
The minister revealed that the “high-powered” delegation that will accompany Prince Mohammed will probably be the “biggest in the history” of the two countries’ relations. It will include the prince’s associates, ministers, advisers and CEOs of the large Saudi companies, he said.
He said it has been decided to devise a mechanism to implement the bilateral agreements to be signed during the visit. In this regard, a coordination council is being set up that will be jointly headed by the crown prince (representing Saudi Arabia) and Prime Minister Imran Khan (representing Pakistan).
All relevant ministries will have representation in the coordination council and they will follow up on the MoUs to ensure their practical implementation, the foreign minister revealed.
“I am immensely glad that you are seeing a qualitative change in our relationship [with Saudi Arabia] and will do in the future,” he told reporters.
Qureshi said the government was grateful to Saudi Arabia for “fully supporting and helping Pakistan in this difficult time”, and cited the multi-billion dollar balance-of-payments support and deferred payment facility for oil supplies provided by the Kingdom in this regard.
