Saudi | Pakistan

PM speaks with Qatar, Saudi envoys

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Sunday met the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and expressed Pakistan’s gratitude for the kingdom’s support during “a difficult time”, a statement from the NA Secretariat read. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif embarked on a two-day state visit to the kingdom and performed Umrah on the night of Thursday and Friday, offering prayers for the country’s success in Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, the government said on its X account. During his visit, the prime minister “expressed appreciation for the kingdom’s proactive role during recent tensions between Pakistan and India, and its steadfast commitment to promoting peace and stability in the region and beyond”, according to a statement from the PM’s office. According to the statement issued today, the Saudi crown prince expressed his commitment to addressing issues that affect the Islamic world when he met with NA Speaker Sadiq, who expressed gratitude for the kingdom’s support for...

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, currently on a two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, performed Umrah on the night of Thursday and Friday, offering prayers for the country’s success in Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, the government said on its X account. The delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia at the invitation of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman for a visit from June 5 to 6, according to a statement from the Foreign Office. The visit is focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in key areas between both nations. PM Shehbaz is also expected to thank the Saudi leadership for its constructive role in de-escalating the recent Pakistan-India conflict. PM Shehbaz was accompanied by Army Chief Field Marshal General Asim Munir, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi, and Information and Broadcasting Minister Attaullah Tarar, who also performed the Umrah. The gates of the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam, were specially opened for the delegation, where th...

Near a sprawling tent city outside Makkah, Saudi hospital staff are preparing for a flood of heat-related cases as Muslim pilgrims begin Haj this week in sweltering summer temperatures. The Mina Emergency Hospital is one of 15 such facilities operating just a few weeks a year around the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites, which in 2024 saw more than 1,300 people die in the desert heat. Saudi authorities hope to head off a fatal repeat of last year’s pilgrimage when temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius. Temperatures this year are forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius as one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, bringing together devotees from around the globe, officially commences on Wednesday. So far, authorities have recorded 44 cases of heat exhaustion. Abdullah Asiri, Saudi Arabia’s deputy minister for population health, told AFP at the Mina hospital that “the focus is on heat-related conditions because the Haj coincides with extreme heat”. Brimming with staff but no patients jus...

Saudi Arabia’s health ministry on Thursday launched a health awareness kit, including one in Urdu, to promote the health and well-being of Haj pilgrims. Haj, one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, is performed each year by millions of Muslims worldwide. Pakistan receives one of the highest Haj quotas from Saudi Arabia. In a post on X, the Saudi health ministry said that the kit was available in eight languages. “In all languages, we care about pilgrims’ health. Explore the health awareness kit to promote health and well-being among pilgrims,” the post said. The multilingual kit contained essential information for pilgrims, such as: preventing heat-related illnesses and managing health in extreme conditions, required vaccinations (meningitis, Covid-19, polio and yellow fever), managing chronic diseases, and accessing free health services during Haj. It also included short videos, social media assets, and printable posters. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the annual Haj agreement in January, which would see ...

A Saudi airline has resumed flights for Iranian Haj pilgrims to the kingdom for the first time in a decade, the latest sign of the warming ties between the countries. “Flynas resumed Iranian pilgrims flights from Imam Khomeini (airport) in Tehran on Saturday,” a Saudi civil aviation authority official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said flights would also be added from Mashhad in Iran, allowing more than 35,000 pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia on the airline. Flynas is a budget airline based in Saudi Arabia, which operates domestic and international routes. The official stressed that the flights were not commercial and were only for the Haj pilgrimage. The Haj is due to begin during the first week of June, and pilgrims from across the globe have already begun pouring into Saudi Arabia. Screengrab of the flight from Jeddah to Tehran. — FlightRadar24 Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations in March 2023 under a surprise China-brokered deal after a se...

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif welcomed the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Adel Al-Jubeir, at the PM House on Friday, addressing the ongoing situation in South Asia. In the meeting, the Saudi minister voiced serious concern over the present circumstances in the region, reaffirming his nation’s plea for de-escalation and […]

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj and Umrah has refuted claims that funds from thousands of Pakistani Haj pilgrims were mistakenly sent to the wrong bank account, emphasising that the Kingdom’s digital Haj platform maintains the “utmost levels of transparency,” Arab News Pakistan reported on Tuesday. The clarification followed reports from [multiple] Pakistani media outlets last week, which claimed that over 67,000 Pakistani pilgrims might experience delays in their Haj travel due to millions of Saudi Riyals intended for their expenses being erroneously transferred to an incorrect bank account. “Recent claims in some Pakistani media outlets about ‘Haj funds being sent to the wrong Saudi account’ are baseless and stem from a misunderstanding of the Haj account management system and the ministry’s official electronic Haj platform, which ensures the highest standards of transparency and accuracy,” Arab News Pakistan quoted an official of the Saudi Ministry of Haj and Umrah as saying. According to the report, the of...