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Pakistani PM begins official visit to Saudi Arabia

Xinhua, March 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday embarked on official visit to Saudi Arabia on the invitation of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, officials said.

This is the prime minister's first visit to the Kingdom since King Salman bin Abdulaziz assumed the throne last month.

The new Saudi monarch had invited the Pakistani prime minister as part of his consultations with Muslim leaders on several issues were faced by the Islamic countries.

The Turkish and Egyptian leaders have recently paid visits to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia last week hosted an international conference of Islamic scholars to explore ways against terrorism and violent extremism in Islamic countries.

The prime minister will hold talks with the Saudi leaders on bilateral and regional issues, focusing on anti-terror cooperation, officials said. He will also meet members of the Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Ministry said.

The prime minister is accompanied by a high-level delegation that includes Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Affairs Irfan Siddiqui and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi.

In his pre-departure statement, Sharif said that the two countries have grown stronger with the passage of time. "Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are brotherly countries which are tied in bonds of shared faith and values,"a statement from the PM office quoted Nawaz Sharif as saying. Endi