ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will attend Bahrain’s national day as guest of honor on King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa’s invitation on Monday, said an official handout circulated by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He will be accompanied by a high-level delegation on his first visit to the Gulf state since assuming the highest political office of his country in August 2018.
“During the visit, [the prime minister] will have one-on-one meeting with His Majesty Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa and hold delegation-level talks with Crown Prince His Royal Highness Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa,” said the official statement. “The exchange of views would cover the entire gamut of bilateral relations and matters pertaining to regional and international issues.”
Bahrain will also confer its highest civil award on the leader of the South Asian nation.
“Pakistan and Bahrain enjoy close cordial ties based on commonalities of faith and culture and marked by mutual trust and understanding,” the statement added. “The bilateral relationship is broad-based and multifaceted, covering diverse fields … Pakistan and Bahrain closely coordinate in multilateral fora including the UN, OIC and GCC.”
The ministry noted that the two countries had also established institutional mechanisms, including Bilateral Political Consultations and Joint Ministerial Commission, to bolster bilateral cooperation.
“Over 100,000 Pakistani expatriate community, which contributes to the socio-economic development of Bahrain, acts as a strong human bridge between the two countries,” the official handout maintained.
“The Prime Minister’s visit to Bahrain will enable the two sides to explore ways and means to further deepen bilateral trade and investments ties,” the statement continued. “The visit is of special significance and will impart a strong impetus to both sides’ endeavours to forge a closer, multifaceted bilateral relationship.”
Prime Minister Khan to visit Bahrain Today
https://arab.news/g3t5r
Prime Minister Khan to visit Bahrain Today
- Khan will attend the Kingdom’s national day as guest of honor
- He will also receive Bahrain’s highest civil award and interact with its top leadership
Hundreds of migrants, including Pakistanis, land in Greece after search operation at sea
- Rescued migrants were taken to a temporary facility on Crete after reaching the port of Agia Galini
- Greece has made deportations of rejected asylum seekers a priority under its migration policy
ATHENS: Greece’s Coast Guard rescued about 540 migrants from a fishing boat off Europe’s southernmost island of Gavdos on Friday, one of the biggest groups to reach the country in recent months.
The migrants were found during a Greek search operation some 16 nautical miles (29.6 km) off Gavdos, a Coast Guard statement said. They are all well and are being taken to a temporary facility on the nearby island of Crete after reaching the port of Agia Galini, a Coast Guard official said, adding most of the migrants were men from Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan.
In a separate incident on Thursday, the EU’s border agency Frontex rescued 65 men and five women from two migrant boats in distress off Gavdos, the Greek Coast Guard said.
Greece was on the front line of a 2015-16 migration crisis when more than a million people from the Middle East and Africa landed on its shores before moving on to other European countries, mainly Germany.
Flows have ebbed since then, but both Crete and Gavdos — the two Mediterranean islands nearest to the African coast — have seen a steep rise in migrant boats, mainly from Libya, reaching their shores over the past year and deadly accidents remain common along that route.
Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy will be eligible for help in dealing with migratory pressures under a new EU mechanism when the bloc’s pact on migration and asylum enters into force in mid-2026.
The center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said deportation of rejected asylum seekers will be a priority.
