Nawaz Sharif arrives in Saudi, to discuss "matters of national interest"

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night, will hold meetings with the royal family on what his party described as "matters of national interest."

"Mian Sahib's visit is that of national interest as it has nothing to do with his personal interest. It will not be good to talk about the matters of sensitive nature before they take final shape," the Dawn reported, citing, a close aide to Sharif, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, as saying.

Dismissing and dubbing the reports of efforts being made to have another National Reconciliation Order (NRO) as "absurd", Rashid said, "Those claiming that an NRO is being prepared should at least know that it is signed secretly and not so openly."

On Saturday the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president flew to Saudi Arabia by a foreign airline from the Allama Iqbal International Airport of Lahore. Sharif was welcomed at Riyadh airport by Khan Hasham bin Siddique, the country's ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

This comes in the backdrop of chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province and his brother Shahbaz Sharif and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique are already present there.

Shahbaz Sharif is reportedly believed to have been preparing the premise for the visit of his elder brother.

Nawaz and Shehbaz are expected to meet the Saudi crown prince and other senior officials of the Kingdom today.

The Sharif brothers are also likely to tour London after concluding their trip to the Kingdom, according to the reports.