Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman postpones trip to Pakistan, other Asian countries

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Saturday postponed his trip to Pakistan as well as other Asian countries, and a revised schedule would be announced soon, reported Aaj News.

The new dates will be announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saudi prime minister is now expected to visit Pakistan at the end of November or early December.

The crown prince had planned a trip to Asian countries including Pakistan, India, and South Korea.

Saudi Crown Prince to visit Pakistan, announces PM Shehbaz

Mohammed bin Salman was earlier expected to visit Pakistan on a one-day trip on November 21. Now, he will directly fly to Bali, Indonesia to attend the G20 Summit that is scheduled to take place on November 15-16, 2022.

On October 28, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced that Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Pakistan and “he is keen to invest in diverse schemes in the country, including an oil refinery”.

Recalling his visit to Saudi Arabia, PM Shehbaz said “MBS pledged to invest in diverse schemes of Pakistan including an oil refinery that he first discussed with Pakistan in 2019 but no follow up was done.”

MBS may announce investment projects during his visit

According to the PM, the refinery will be built at a cost of $10 billion to $12 billion. He reiterated that Pakistan was also making efforts to build solar power schemes.

Media reports also claimed that Pakistan is also expected to get a bailout package of $4.2 billion during the visit, besides announcing to set up a $10 billion oil refinery at Gwadar.