PM arrives in US through commercial flight

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday arrived in Washington for his 3-day visit to the United States on a commercial Qatar Airways flight. He will stay at the ambassador’s residence in the city’s diplomatic enclave.

During the premier’s stopover in Doha, he was hosted by Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

The decision to take a commercial flight has been taken to save taxpayer money. The government has repeatedly promised that the entire trip will cost a total $60,000 to the exchequer — significantly less than the much higher expenditures allegedly incurred by past chief executives.

Imran Khan is scheduled to address a record-setting gathering of the Pakistani community at a stadium in the downtown of the Washington DC. The prime minister will address the Pakistani community at Capital One Arena with a seating capacity of above 20,000 persons most of which had been booked already with more people still registering themselves to attend the event. The prime minister’s community address is distinctive in the way as previously, the visiting Pakistani leaders used to address the Pakistani expatriates in the community halls or closed door rooms at hotels.

“The atmosphere we are witnessing this time was never seen in the past. The Pakistani community, the American Pakistanis are yearning to see and listen to Imran Khan and know the concept of Naya Pakistan and what message he has brought along to America,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told media at Capital One Arena where he arrived to review the arrangements.