Prime Minister House spokesperson has told the media that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia on Monday and Iran on Tuesday. He will be back on Tuesday, according to reports. Reports further reveal that Army Chief Raheel Sharif will also accompany him.
The spokesperson told the media that the purpose of the visit is to reduce the tension between the two Islamic states. The PM is scheduled to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
Tehran and Riyadh are at loggerheads since Saudi Arabia executed Shia cleric Al-Nimr. Iran has protested against the execution and the Saudi Embassy in Tehran was set on fire by a mob.
After that Saudi Arabia cancelled its diplomatic ties with Iran and called back its diplomatic staff from Iran and asked the Iranian ambassador to leave Saudi Arabia. In further developments other states like Sudan, Kuwait and Bahrain also cancelled diplomatic relations with Iran, while UAE minimised them.
Saudi Defence Minister Muhammad Bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir have already visited Islamabad this month. The Advisor to PM of Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz announced on Tuesday that Pakistan is a part of the 34-state Saudi-led counter-terror coalition, but won't be sending any troops to the Middle East.
