ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif set off on a four-day diplomatic blitz to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey on Wednesday (April 15), his office said, in a feverish round of diplomacy before a possible second round of US-Iran peace talks.
The visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar will be conducted “in the bilateral context”, while Sharif will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum while in Turkey.
He will also hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other leaders on the sidelines of the Antalya forum, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Washington and Tehran held their first face-to-face talks in decades in Islamabad over the weekend, with efforts under way to end the war that began when the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28.
The war has plunged the Middle East into conflict, with Iran targeting US allies in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in retaliation and blocking energy exports from the region.
The Islamabad talks ended without an agreement to end the conflict, but US President Donald Trump said on April 14 that negotiations could resume this week in the Pakistani capital.
A fragile ceasefire remains in place until next week, despite the US ordering a naval blockade of Iran.
Sharif was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, one of the mediators during the US-Iran talks, and other senior officials on his visits, his office said on the afternoon of April 15.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share close ties, and Islamabad’s Finance Ministry announced on April 15 that Riyadh would provide Pakistan with US$3 billion (S$3.8 billion) to help bolster its foreign reserves.
That support came days after Pakistan said it was returning billions in loans to Riyadh’s ally-turned-rival, the United Arab Emirates.
The Finance Ministry said an existing US$5 billion Saudi deposit would also be extended for an unspecified period. - AFP
