PM Khan holds talks with crown prince of Abu Dhabi in Islamabad

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday arrived in Islamabad on a day-long official visit.

Sheikh Mohammed was given a red carpet welcome upon his arrival at the Nur Khan airbase. Prime Minister Imran Khan received him personally and drove him to the PM House.

The Abu Dhabi crown prince was given a guard of honour and a fly-past salute during a welcome ceremony at the Prime Minister House.

Later, PM Imran Khan held a one-on-one meeting with the UAE crown prince and discussed bilateral ties and other regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Federal ministers, advisers and special assistants to PM, top military leadership as well as key government officials have been invited for the luncheon organised for the visiting dignitary.

This is the third interaction between the leadership of Pakistan and UAE in less than three months.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has finalized a financial package of $6.2 billion for Pakistan. Sources said the UAE package comprises of $3.2bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payment and a $3bn cash deposit.

Earlier in a telephonic conversation, PM Khan extended an invitation to the crown prince to visit Pakistan.

The package is expected to be announced by UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during his scheduled visit of Pakistan.

According to an official familiar with the matter, the UAE package will be under the same terms and conditions as given by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “It was finalised this week.”

The deferred payment facility will help Pakistan save around $6.4 billion on oil and gas imports from the two countries.

Furnishing reports indicate that the government also began back channel talks with Qatar seeking relief Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) prices.

Pakistan has already received $2bn in cash from Saudi Arabia and the third installment of $1bn is due in the first week of February.