PM Khan reaches US on crown prince's special plane

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s media adviser on Sunday praised the “magnanimous” gesture of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who stopped the Pakistani premier from using a commercial airliner to fly to the United States and arranged a special plane for him to go to New York.
“This happens in bilateral relations,” Iftikhar Durrani told Arab News. “Prime Minister Imran Khan went to Saudi Arabia on a commercial flight. It was the magnanimity of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman that he offered a special plane to him for his travel from Saudi Arabia to the United States.”
Durrani added that both leaders were charismatic and liked each other.
“There is a lot in common between the prime minister and the Saudi crown prince,” he continued. “When the Saudi leader visited Islamabad, he said that the Kingdom wanted to work with Pakistan for a while but was waiting for such leadership. So they have a chemistry. They like each other.”
The prime minister’s adviser maintained that Pakistan was respected in the Muslim world and Khan was widely viewed as a statesman.
“This offer of special plan was a good gesture,” he said. “You should also keep in mind that the crown prince is from the royal family and thinks like a king. So he offered the special plane to his guest who arrived on a commercial flight.”
The prime minister arrived in New York on Saturday to participate in the 74th session of United Nations General Assembly where he hopes to bring international attention to the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir after New Delhi’s decision last month to revoke the limited constitutional autonomy for the disputed Himalayan region.
Durrani informed that the PM would take a commercial flight while returning home since “he is always concerned about public money.”