The minister for information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that Pakistan has invited Saudi Arabia to join China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as 3rd strategic partner. Speaking at a presser about Prime Minister Imran Khan''s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), he said that Pakistan''s main interest lies in cooperation with Saudi Arabia on matters of trade and security.
"A high-level coordination committee has been constituted to look into the matters of trade and commerce] and it has the complete backing of the Saudi King, His Highness Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, as well as the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and PM Khan," Fawad Chaudhry said.
The information minister announced that high-level delegations from Saudi Arabia and the UAE will visit Pakistan to discuss trade and security in October. The Saudi ministers of treasury and power as well as business leaders will be in the delegation. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will finalise an important economic partnership during this visit, the information minister said. He said that Saudi Arabia is the first country that Pakistan has invited to become a third partner in CPEC, and the projects that Saudi Arabia will be investing in will be worked out during the Saudi delegation''s visit, scheduled for the first week of October.
"We expect major investments from Saudi Arabia," he said. "Our strategic cooperation has been revitalized. We have assured the Saudi leadership that we will continue to provide security to their country and provide strategic support wherever needed," Chaudhry said. The information minister said that in Abu Dhabi, the Pakistani delegation was received by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed. Matters of mutual interest were discussed in detail during the meeting," Chaudhry said.
"I should mention here that the relations between Pakistan and the UAE and Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had been frosty for the past few years, and this visit changed that," the information minister said. He added that the complications in the procurement of the UAE visas and other matters will be resolved soon as the matters had come under discussion during the visit.
"The Foreign Office will soon send a proposal to the UAE and it is expected that these issues will be resolved for the thousands of Pakistanis that are dwelling in the Emirates," Chaudhry assured. The information minister said that the UAE would also help Pakistan in many projects, including the provision of fresh water to Karachi. "Delegations from the UAE will come to Pakistan in October to discuss these matters," he said.
"It is important to mention here that Muhammad bin Zayed has a great standing in GCC and Saudi Arabia, and his support will go a long way for Pakistan," Chaudhry said. Responding to a question about former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chaudhry denied any deal was made in Saudi Arabia to release deposed premier Nawaz Sharif from prison as he is "not important enough for either country to make a deal over". Chaudhry added that the government has "no personal" differences with PML-N and Nawaz will be sent "back to where he came from".
Elaborating further, the information minister said that the government will not let the convicted Sharif family members leave the country. "We will also extradite former finance minister Ishaq Dar, and absconders Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz." Responding to Fawad Chaudhry''s statement regarding CPEC former Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal asked has the government of Pakistan taken China into confidence? CPEC is a bilateral project in which induction of any other country has to have concurrence of both sides.