Sharif leaves for Riyadh to attend 'Arab-Nato' Summit

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday left on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia to participate in the first-ever Arab-Islamic-American Summit, being held in Riyadh.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz invited Prime Minister Nawaz for the summit. The invitation was delivered by Saudi Information Minister Awwad bin Saleh al Awwad, who visited Islamabad last week, Dawn online reported.

Sharif is accompanied by his Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and First Lady Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.

In addition to King Salman and US President Donald Trump, 55 heads of state and government from the Muslim world have been invited to participate in the summit.

The grand meeting will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to discuss how to overcome the menace of terrorism and extremism across the world.

It is expected that leaders will attempt to de-link "terrorism" from any particular religion, culture, civilisation or region, reports Dawn online.

The Prime Minister will also join the global leaders to attend the inauguration ceremony of the World Centre against Extremism, an important counter-radicalisation initiative by Saudi Arabia.

Sharif has reaffirmed Pakistan's "alliance with the Kingdom by recalling the commonality of views of two countries on most regional and international issues and their collaboration" for achieving common interests and objectives.

It was "unlikely" that Sharif would get a one-on-one meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the summit.

--IANS

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