ISLAMABAD: Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif arrived in Islamabad on Monday, with the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners and regional security at the top of the agenda for discussions, the Pakistani interior ministry said.
Islamabad and Riyadh last May signed a prisoner transfer agreement to repatriate over 2,000 Pakistanis jailed in Saudi Arabia.
“They will discuss the release of Pakistanis imprisoned in Saudi Arabia and other important issues, including the regional situation,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed received his Saudi counterpart and his delegation at the Noor Khan Air Base Rawalpindi.
Ahmed and Naif will hold a meeting at the interior ministry later in the day, after which the Saudi leader will meet President Dr. Arif Ali and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
"We are inviting interior ministers of different countries where our people are in prisons,” Ahmed told reporters on Sunday. “It is as per instructions of the prime minister."
The minister said the government was making all efforts to bring back Pakistanis jailed in brotherly Muslim countries for minor offences and unable to afford fines.
"We are taking this to the cabinet that people who are languishing in our brotherly Islamic countries due to fines, their release should be managed by paying their fines," he said.
Ahmed said Pakistan had already secured the release of many prisoners from Turkey, adding that officials from Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait would also be visiting the country soon.
