ISLAMABAD – Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may visit Pakistan inMarch and is expected to attend the Pakistan Day parade.
A report of *Express Tribune* quoting sources said the talks between thetwo friendly countries are in progress to finalize the dates for the MBSvisit.
The de facto ruler of the kingdom will also meet the top Pakistanileadership in a bid to strengthen ties between the two sides and willattend the March 23rd parade as a guest of honor.
The upcoming visit would be Mohammed bin Salman’s second visit in threeyears. Earlier, he traveled to the South Asian country in 2019.
Islamabad has maintained friendly relations with Riyadh but the tiesbetween the two countries hit an unusual roadblock after Pakistani leadersjoined the Turkish President and the Malaysian Prime Minister at thesidelines of the UN General Assembly session in September 2019.
Amid the strained ties in previous years, Islamabad was asked to return theSaudi loan before time which experts termed as a rare instance in history.Riyadh had extended financial help to Pakistan in the past but never askedIslamabad to return the money as it either rolled over the facility orconverted it into a grant.
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However, in recent times the two Muslim countries are once again normal asPrime Minister Imran Khan reached Kingdom on a three-day visit to attendthe ceremony of the ‘Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit’ being heldin Riyadh last year.
The last visit led to another Saudi bailout package to the tune of $4.2billion, $3 billion in cash support while the remaining oil facility was ondeferred payment.
The two nations also cooperated to arrange an extraordinary meeting of theOIC Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan in Islamabad.
