Visits to Saudi Arabia, UAE mark new era

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE, in his first official trip abroad, is commendable for it will largely focus on the financial bailout plan for his country in addition to mending ties that saw downward trend in recent years due to blunders by his predecessors.

His decision to visit the two countries is critical for Pakistan and the region. Being a frequent visitor to the UAE, as he raised funds for his cancer hospital over the last two decades, Imran knows how important it is to take relations with the UAE to the next level.

His current trip becomes all the more important because he probably realises that Pakistan cannot come out of economic crisis without its close and time-tested friends.

Tour agenda

His austerity steps are good, but not enough to pay off huge foreign debts and build dams to overcome the water and electricity crises.

Pakistan’s foreign debts have increased to $95 billion (Dh348 billion).

Imran’s entourage, including Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi; Finance Minister Asad Umar and Adviser to the PM on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, is also indicative of his tour agenda.

The PM will use his visit to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate Pakistan’s value as an economic partner for Riyadh. He is likely to pursue a similar agenda in the UAE.

A well-placed source in Islamabad told Gulf News that country’s top civil and military leaders last week finalised the strategy for the Imran’s visit. This is the first time that the civilian and the military leadership are on one page when it comes to planning for foreign policy.