Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan to visit Pakistan to boost bilateral ties

The Crown Prince had last visited Pakistan on January 6 last year, just weeks after his country offered USD 3 billion financial assistance.
Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (L) with Pakistan PM Imran Khan (File photo| AFP via Pakistan Press Information Department)
Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (L) with Pakistan PM Imran Khan (File photo| AFP via Pakistan Press Information Department)

ISLAMBAD: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan will arrive for a day-long visit to Pakistan on Thursday, days after the UAE came under criticism for siding with Saudi Arabia to put pressure on Prime Minister Imran Khan to skip a key conference of leaders of Islamic nations in Malaysia.

Khan was scheduled to attend the four-day conference of Muslim leaders from December 18 to 21 in Kuala Lumpur but avoided after Riyadh apparently disapproved it. During his visit, the Crown Prince will also hold meetings with the top Pakistani officials including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

Khan and the Crown Prince will also exchange views on "matters of mutual interest and the regional and global situation", UAE's ambassador in Islamabad said in a statement. It said the visit is aimed "to further strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two brotherly countries".

This will be the Crown Prince's second visit to Pakistan since Khan took office in August 2018. He had last visited Pakistan on January 6 last year, just weeks after his country offered USD 3 billion financial assistance to Pakistan to deal with its balance of payment crisis.

This is also the second visit by an Arab leader in just two weeks. Last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud visited Pakistan for a day-long trip. Riyadh has said that it will host a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the Kashmir issue.

The Saudi minister arrived after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Riyadh had issued economic threats to Pakistan and pressured it into withdrawing from the Kuala Lumpur summit of leaders of Islamic nations in Malaysia.

The summit was seen by Riyadh as an attempt to create a new bloc to replace the dysfunctional OIC led by Saudi Arabia. The Saudis and Emirati leaders apparently objected that Pakistan would be sharing stage with Iran and Qatar, seen as challengers to their dominance in the region.

The Saudi embassy in Islamabad dismissed the reports that it pressured Pakistan to pull out of the summit. Khan had confirmed Pakistan's participation in the summit hosted by Malaysia, but skipped the event at the eleventh hour. The decision to pull out of the summit came after his visit to Riyadh for a meeting with the Saudi leadership.

Khan travelled to Riyadh while army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa went to the UAE to persuade the leaders of the two Arab nations not to oppose Pakistan's participation in the summit but apparently both came back empty handed. The UAE was also criticised for siding with Saudi Arabia to put pressure on Prime Minister Khan to skip a conference In Malaysia.

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