Pakistan’s visit by the Saudi crown prince has been postponed
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s highly anticipated trip to Pakistan has been postponed, the Foreign Office announced on Saturday. No explanation was given.
“A new date has been set for the visit. The two parties will jointly decide on new dates “Mumtaz Zahra, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office, informed The Express Tribune. She refused to give any more information.
The Saudi de facto ruler was scheduled to visit Islamabad on November 21; it was his first trip there in more than four years, and Pakistan hoped it would result in the announcement of another financial rescue plan.
In addition, Salman postponed his trip to neighboring India and other Asian nations. He would now only go to Indonesia for the G20 summit.
Though no official explanation for the delay was provided, sources indicated that a number of factors, including the current political unpredictability and the appointment of a new army chief, may have played a significant role.
According to one person who was consulted by the Saudi authorities regarding the visit, Riyadh was unsure whether to proceed with the visit in light of the current political climate in the nation. The individual further stated that Pakistan’s lack of preparation was also to blame.
Other sources could not exclude the possibility that the selection of the army chief was the primary cause of the delay. They believed that the army in Pakistan served as Saudi Arabia’s primary conduit. Therefore, it was inexplicable why the Saudi crown prince would travel just days before the new army chief was announced.
According to one insider, it’s probable that the Saudis had the notion that the current army leader might stay on when the visit was being organized. Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa will retire on November 29, according to the military’s media wing, thus the Saudi government would have been forced to postpone the visit until the new army head assumes over.
As Pakistan anticipated yet another financial bailout from the kingdom, it saw the visit of the Saudi de facto ruler as crucial.
In order to deal with the declining foreign reserves, Pakistan was hoping to obtain a $13 billion financial bailout package from Saudi Arabia and China jointly.
According to finance minister Ishaq Dar, China promised to roll over a $7.3 billion loan and provide an additional $1.5 billion during the prime minister’s recent trip to Beijing.
