ISLAMABAD: After attending the swearing-in ceremony for the 13th president of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia’s Media Minister, Dr. Awwad Bin Saleh Al-Awwad, engaged with the country’s top political and military leadership, as part of his three-day visit, on Sunday.
In addition to meeting Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, Al-Awwad also engaged with several government officials and media representatives to discuss the way forward in strengthening bilateral ties.
“The minister conveyed the message of felicitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan on behalf of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He also invited the prime minister to visit Saudi Arabia,” Pakistan’s state-run radio said, sharing details of the meeting, on its website.
Al-Awwad also “reaffirmed KSA’s full support to Pakistan in its efforts toward peace and stability,” a statement released by the Inter Services Public Relations, read.
On Saturday, Al-Awwad had called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, with Qureshi “emphasizing on the need to activate all existing institutional mechanisms between the two countries, to take bilateral relations to the next level.”
Qureshi also assured Al-Awwad of Pakistan’s continued support to the Kingdom in realizing its Vision 2030. “He invited Saudi investors to invest in Pakistan, which after completion of the CPEC, will become a market for a billion plus people,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Analysts say the plan is not far-fetched and possible because of Pakistan’s “historic relations with Saudi Arabia.”
Saudi media minister meets Pakistan’s top civil, military brass
Saudi media minister meets Pakistan’s top civil, military brass
- Dr. Awwad Al-Awwad's visit further cements “historic ties”
- Relations between Islamabad and Riyadh are moving beyond security and people-to-people contact, analysts say
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
