Imran Khan’s Saudi Arabia challenge

It was a first state visit by a Pakistani leader in years. It was also first foreign trip by Imran Khan as prime minister. What was notable was that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz himself received Imran when he arrived at his palace in Jeddah. Prime Minister Imran visited Saudi Arabia despite his earlier announcement that he would not travel abroad at least for his first three months in office. The reason he had to travel to Saudi Arabia because, in Imran’s own words, he could not turn down an invitation from the Saudi monarch. Saudi Arabia holds the key for the new government to deal with some of the pressing economic challenges. Pakistan’s economy is currently in shambles and hence requires urgent financial assistance. The PTI government has not yet decided whether to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package. It is instead reaching out to countries such as Saudi Arabia for the rescue.