2,100 Pakistani prisoners in Saudi Arabia to be freed
Top civilian award given to Saudi prince Mohammad bin Salman
ISLAMABAD: Visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman signed agreements worth billions of dollars, and ordered the release of 2,100 Pakistani prisoners held in the kingdom.
The two countries are understood to have signed pacts worth $20 billion during the two-day visit of the prince, which concluded on Monday. Pakistan conferred its highest civilian award Nishan-e-pakistan on the prince for his “outstanding support” in reinvigorating the ties between the two countries.
At a joint press briefing, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked the prince and expressed his happiness over the royal’s visit, hoping that he would stay longer next time “so I can show you the beauty of Pakistan and the northern areas.”
Khan thanked the prince for his announcement to release the Pakistani prisoners in Saudi jails with immediate effect. “If you stood in elections here, you would get more votes than me,” he joked, adding, “You are extremely popular.”
Prince Mohammad said, “We believe in Pakistan’s future and that it has a huge opportunity. In 2030, Pakistan will be next to two huge economies. One, China will be the largest economy in 2030, and two, India will be the thirdlargest economy so Pakistan will definitely benefit from these neighbours.”
“We saw the Pakistani econ- omy grow by 5% in 2018 so we believe that Pakistan has huge potential, it could be one of top 20 economies in the future, easily. If the efforts of the leadership, the people of Pakistan, and their allies come together, definitely it can reach that one day.”
“So because of that, we believe in Pakistan. Because of our long relations [...] we want to be part of that journey and we want to risk our money, to risk our efforts, to start from day one.”
Adviser to the Prime Minister on commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said the government was finalising $7 billion in Saudi investments in the next two years.