Pak PM leaves on maiden foreign visit to Saudi Arabia

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi left on his maiden foreign visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Geo News quoted sources as saying that Abbasi is accompanied by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

During his visit, Abbasi will meet Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman and also pay a visit to the resting place of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in Medina.

He is also expected to hold meetings with other senior officials of Saudi Arabia.

This is Abbasi's first foreign visit after being elected as prime minister on August 1, after Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from holding public office by the Supreme Court in the Panama case.

Citing sources, Geo News reported today's visit to Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Pakistan, will feature discussions on US President Donald Trump's new policy regarding Pakistan.

United States Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale briefed Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday on the statements made by President Trump regarding Pakistan in his South Asia policy announcement earlier in the day.

Ambassador Hale had informed Foreign Minister Asif that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would spell out in greater detail the various aspects of the bilateral relationship between the two countries and explain America's South Asia policy.

Ambassador Hale was told of Pakistan's desire for peace in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Asif told the envoy that Pakistan would continue to work with the international community to eliminate the menace of terrorism.

Asif also informed that he had accepted Tillerson's invitation to visit Washington.

Earlier in the day, President Trump described Pakistan as a country that continues to offer safe haven to "agents of chaos".

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organisations," Trump said as he cleared the way for the deployment of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan, backtracking from his promise to swiftly end America's longest war.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting. That will have to change and that will change immediately," President Trump said.