| Ashraf to start two-day S. Arabia visit today |
ISLAMABAD New Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will embark on his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, days before the Supreme Court takes up two cases that could lead to his disqualification.
During the two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, Ashraf will meet Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.
An unnamed Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the Dawn newspaper as saying that the purpose of the visit was to reiterate the importance Pakistan attaches to its relations with Saudi Arabia.
During a meeting with Saudi Ambassador Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al Ghadeer on July 2, Ashraf had expressed a desire to visit the kingdom. “I am keen to visit the kingdom, the Holy Land,” Ashraf was quoted as saying.
A diplomatic observer told the Dawn that it was plausible for any premier to undertake a foreign trip to strengthen bilateral relations under normal circumstances, but a premier “facing a survival crisis at home would go on an overseas trip only for something very pressing”.
The report said Ashraf “could be looking for Riyadh’s blessings for a political bailout or urgent economic help to ease the financial crisis at home”.
Saudi involvement in Pakistan was summed up by the kingdom’s ambassador to the US, Adel Al Jubeir, who once said: “We in Saudi Arabia are not observers in Pakistan, we are participants.”
Legal experts have said the new law was passed largely to prevent the disqualification of Ashraf.
Press Trust of India
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