Islamabad, Apr 25 (PTI) Pakistan's newly-appointed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would travel to Saudi Arabia this week on his maiden official visit abroad after assuming office.

Shehbaz, 70, was sworn in as Pakistan's 23rd prime minister on April 11 after his predecessor Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

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"The Prime Minister, accompanied by a high level delegation, will be undertaking an official visit to Saudi Arabia later during the week,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said at his press briefing on Monday.

This would be his first ever foreign trip as prime minister of Pakistan.

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On the sidelines of the visit, Shehbaz would also visit Mecca to perform Umrah pilgrimage.

In his first address to the parliament soon after election as the prime minister of the country, Shehbaz had highlighted special ties with Saudi Arabia.

Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman earlier sent congratulatory messages to Shehbaz on becoming Pakistan's new prime minister and wished him success.

Following General Pervez Musharraf's coup in 1999 toppling the Nawaz Sharif government, Shehbaz along with the family spent eight years in exile in Saudi Arabia before returning to Pakistan in 2007.

Last week, Shehbaz met with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al Malki and “vowed to explore new avenues of bilateral relations between the two countries.”

The Saudi Ambassador reaffirmed the Gulf Kingdom's commitment to take the “brotherly relations to new heights.”

In December 2021, Pakistan had taken a USD 3 billion loan from Saudi Arabia on very tough conditions after its official gross foreign exchange reserves dipped below USD 16 billion.

The FO spokesperson also said that Pakistan has welcomed the establishment of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, upon the successful conclusion of the GCC hosted intra-Yemeni dialogue in Riyadh, and the UN Special Envoy's announcement of a truce in Yemen.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)