RIYADH: Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh, speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council, will head a council delegation on an official visit to Pakistan on Monday, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Al-Sheikh highlighted in a statement to the press the deep-rooted strategic relations between the two countries, supported by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as well as the leadership of Pakistan.
He also noted that bilateral relations, which he said were an extension of the historical legacy of cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, are continuing to develop.
The Shoura Council speaker expressed his hope that the visit will contribute to opening new opportunities for cooperation between the council, the National Assembly of Pakistan and the Senate of Pakistan.
These opportunities are expected to come through the coordination of parliamentary positions in regional and international forums.
During the visit, Al-Sheikh will hold official talks with Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, speaker of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and meet with a number of senior Pakistani officials to review relations and discuss ways to strengthen ties.
The visit was arranged in response to an invitation from Sadiq, after the two countries signed a historic mutual defense pact in September.
The pact states that any aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both, and comes at a time of heightened tension in the region.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Farooq told Arab News recently that the signing was a “natural continuation” of the “enduring fraternal bond” between the two nations.
The Shoura Council delegation accompanying Al-Sheikh includes members of the Shoura Council Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Buraik, Ibtisam bint Abdullah Al-Jubeir, Ahmed bin Abdulrahman Al-Wardi, and a number of council officials.
The relationship between the countries was established in September 1947 when Saudi Arabia became one of the first countries to recognize Pakistan following its independence.
This was soon followed by the signing of a Treaty of Friendship in 1951.
