ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed Saudi Arabia’s interest in developing energy projects in Pakistan, Sharif’s office said on Monday, following his meetings with Saudi officials on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Riyadh.

The Pakistan prime minister was in Riyadh to attend the WEF special meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development on April 28-29.

During his visit, PM Sharif held meetings with Saudi Arabia’s ministers of energy, economy and planning, and environment, water, and agriculture, according to his office.

In a meeting with Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the PM highlighted initiatives undertaken by Pakistan to facilitate investment in the energy sector.

“The Saudi side showed keen interest in developing energy projects identified by the Prime Minister,” Sharif’s office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister welcomed the interest by the Kingdom to enhance economic partnership with Pakistan.”

The proposed projects included building new and improving existing energy infrastructure, increasing focus on renewable energy, and bringing efficiency across the entire energy ecosystem in Pakistan, according to the statement. 

The Saudi energy minister was accompanied by the president of Aramco, a Saudi state-owned petroleum and natural gas company, and other officials.

PM Sharif said both sides were pursuing the economic cooperation agenda with “renewed vigour and commitment,” following his meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday.

He expressed hope that technical teams of the two countries would complete their work and many mutually beneficial projects would be launched soon.

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

Both countries have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.

Later, PM Sharif held a meeting with Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Faisal Al-Ibrahim, wherein he highlighted the potential of the Pakistani agriculture sector.

“Pakistan can become a bread basket for the Kingdom and could play a critical role in ensuring food security not only for the two countries but for the entire region,” Sharif’s office quoted him as saying.

Saudi Minister for Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli briefed the prime minister on the fruitful discussions that he and his delegation held in Islamabad this month, according to Sharif’s office. He said Saudi agriculture companies were looking at Pakistan with “great interest” and hoped that both countries would benefit from joint ventures for improving the value chain of the agriculture economy.

PM Sharif also congratulated the Saudi minister of economy for successfully hosting the WEF summit in Riyadh and lauded the Kingdom’s role as a thought leader in taking forward the global economic and development agenda.

ISLAMABAD: Four militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation in northwest Pakistan on Monday, the Pakistani military said, amid a spate of militant violence in the region.

The operation was conducted in the Khyber tribal district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.

An intense exchange of fire during the operation killed four militants.

“Terrorists’ hideout was also busted during the operation and a large cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was recovered,” the ISPR said in a statement.

A sanitization operation was being carried out to eliminate any other threats in the vicinity, the ISPR added.

The development came amid a surge in violence in Pakistan’s northwest, mostly blamed on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), since the group ended a ceasefire with the central government in November 2022.

Last week, TTP militants abducted a district and sessions judge, Shakirullah Marwat, in the same province. The judge was recovered after a joint operation by police and security forces, police said on Monday. 

Earlier this month, six people, including five customs department officials, were killed in an attack in Dera Ismail Khan. Two customs officers were also killed in the area in a separate attack earlier.

Militants have also targeted security officials in the province in recent weeks, killing a number of police and counterterrorism department officials.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have traded blame in recent months over who is responsible for the recent spate of militant attacks in Pakistan.

Islamabad says the attacks are launched mostly by TTP members who operate from safe havens in Afghanistan. Kabul denies this and blames Islamabad for not being able to handle its own security challenges.