Nawaz, Maryam meet Saudi crown prince: Marriyum Aurangzeb

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, along with PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz, met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Friday.

In a tweet, Aurangzeb said, “Muhammad Nawaz Sharif met the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Maryam Nawaz was also present on the occasion.

“The leaders discussed further improving Saudi-Pak brotherly relations and solutions to the issues Pakistan is facing. Nawaz Sharif expressed his good wishes for the Saudi leadership,” she added.

There was no official mention from the Saudi side about the meeting and the PML-N did not share any photographs of it.

However, the party’s official Twitter account shared the same statement as posted by Aurangzeb.

The meeting comes as Pakistan faces a critical financial crisis — among others — with Saudi Arabia aiding Pakistan secure a deal with the International Monetary Fund by assuring the lender of its funding for Pakistan earlier this month.

In January, the Saudi crown prince had directed the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the deposit amount in the State of Bank of Pakistan to $5 billion, confirming Saudi Arabia’s position on supporting the economy of Pakistan and its “sisterly people”.

The prince’s directives had come while Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, where he had met Crown Prince Salman and Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia has also signed a $240 million loan agreement with Pakistan to support the Mohmand Multipurpose Dam Project.

Sharifs perform Umrah

Nawaz and his daughter had reached Saudi Arabia on April 11 to perform Umrah along with other family members. The former prime minister had departed from London while the PML-N chief organiser had departed from Pakistan.

Upon reaching there, Maryam had shared pictures of her with her father.

In a video shared by the party’s official Twitter account on April 14, Nawaz can be seen encircled by security personnel as he visited the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

A few days later, the PML-N had also shared pictures of Nawaz paying a visit to Masjid-i-Nabwi in Madina. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar could be seen accompanying him while Saudi personnel provided them with security.

Another video shared by the party showed the same scenes.

Some reports had indicated that Nawaz would prolong his trip till mid-May, to spend time with his son Hussain Nawaz, who has spent the past year in Saudi Arabia at his home there.