Gulf crisis: PM Nawaz, COAS Bajwa arrive in Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa arrived in Saudi Arabia Monday to help resolve diplomatic crisis in the Gulf.

The prime minister was received by Governor Makkah prince Fysal bin Abdul Aziz.

The Prime Minister and the Army Chief will hold talks with the Saudi leadership on the prevailing situation emerging amongst the GCC countries.

Last week, Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt, Bahrain and UAE, cut off all ties with Qatar on its alleged support of extremism and terrorism, as well as ties with Iran.

The boycott was later adopted by Yemen, one of the Libyan governments, Maldives and Mauritius.

PM Nawaz and Army Chief left for Saudi Arabia, following emergency meeting of envoys to discuss the GCC-Arab crisis. The envoys posted in the region discussed the situation threadbare and assist the government in formulating its stance on it.

The Prime Minister chaired the envoy conference.

Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Hasham bin Siddique, ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Moazzam Khan, ambassador to Kuwait Ghulam Dastgir and ambassador to Qatar Shehzad Ahmad attended the conference.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, President Azad Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Chief of Protocol Sahibzada Ahmad Khan and some other senior officials also attended the meeting.