PM Shehbaz to visit UAE after death of country's president

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit on Saturday the United Arab Emirates to offer his condolences on the death of the country's president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a tweet today said that PM Shehbaz will travel to UAE from London on Saturday and will visit the Crown Prince of UAE Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan tomorrow (Sunday).

Earlier, PM Shehbaz said he was “deeply grieved to hear about the passing of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed.”

“UAE has lost a visionary leader and Pakistan a great friend. We send our heartfelt condolences & sympathies to the government & people of the UAE. May Allah rest his soul in peace!” he tweeted.

He said Nahyan took his father's developmental vision for UAE to new heights with fifty years of continuous hard work.

PM Shehbaz, COAS Bajwa express grief over demise of UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed

Pakistan has also announced three days national mourning from Friday till Sunday in solidarity with the people of UAE.

Khalifa, who was born in 1948, had been ruler of the richest emirate, Abu Dhabi, and UAE president since the death of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, in 2004 but had rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2014.

Sheikh Khalifa was a pro-Western moderniser whose low-key approach helped steer the UAE through a tense era in regional politics by aligning the Gulf oil producer closer with Washington and its allies, including Israel.

Pakistan and the UAE enjoy close fraternal ties for five decades that are rooted firmly in common beliefs and shared values and culture.