ISLAMABAD: On the invitation of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from May 21-23 to participate in the first trilateral US-Arab-Islamic Summit, to be held in Riyadh.
In addition to King Salman and US President Donald Trump, 55 heads of state and government from the Muslim world have been invited to participate in the summit. The summit in Riyadh will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to discuss how to overcome the menace of terrorism and extremism across the world. The summit is expected to delink ‘terrorism’ from any particular religion, culture, civilisation or region. In his address at the summit, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will focus on Islam’s message of peace, tolerance and unity. He will highlight the great sacrifices and major successes achieved by Pakistan in defeating the scourge of terrorism and extremism in the region. The prime minister will also join the world leaders to attend the inauguration ceremony of the World Centre against Extremism, an important counter-radicalisation initiative by Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria on Saturday said that Nawaz Sharif would not have bilateral meetings during his visit. The statement comes in response to media reports about the possibility of the prime minister’s bilateral meetings, especially with the US president. The spokesman said, “The format and the very full agenda of the half-day summit, which is expected to have the participation of more than 35 leaders of the Islamic world as well as secretary generals of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), does not permit sideline bilateral meetings.
