Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has accepted Prime Minister Imran Khan’s invitation to visit Pakistan and it is expected that he will come to Pakistan after Eid.
Currently, PM Imran is on a three day official visit to Saudi Arabia in a bid to strengthen the ties between two countries.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that a delegation from Saudi Arabia will visit Pakistan after Eid to discuss Saudi foreign minister and crown prince’s visit.
FM Qureshi further said that the Saudi government will provide $500million (Rs75.50billion) to Pakistan. This money will be invested in the development of infrastructure, electricity projects, and water resources in Pakistan.
Later, in a video message, Qureshi said, “The prime minister’s visit is proving highly productive and there is good news for Pakistan and the Pakistani people.”
Qureshi mentioned that Pakistan will hugely benefit since out of 10m workers that Saudi Arabia needed in the next 10 years, many would come from Pakistan.
“In Mohammed Bin Salman’s view, to achieve the goals set under the vision they would need massive manpower. They have estimated that they would need at least 10m workers in the next 10 years.
“Saudi Arabia has decided to allocate a large chunk of this for Pakistani people. New job opportunities would be created for Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia,” said Qureshi.
King Salman mosque, MBS auditorium to be built in Islamabad
Saudi Arabia will build the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Mosque along with research and cultural centres at the new campus of the International Islamic University (IIU) in Islamabad, Arab News reported.
“The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has decided to build the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Mosque with a capacity of 12,000 worshippers at the new campus of the International Islamic University,” Dr. Masoom Yasinzai was quoted by the Saudi news outlet as saying.
According to the media outlet, in addition, the Saudi government will also build library and an auditorium that will be named after Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman. “Initially, the construction of the mosque was going to cost Rs500 million,” Yasinzai said. “But now the research and cultural center has also been included in the project which will raise its cost,” it reported.
“The research center will focus on Arabic language, Islamic culture and heritage. The center will be equipped with digital technology to provide online Arabic courses from Islamabad to the whole world,” the IIU rector said, adding the Kingdom will announce need-based scholarships for at least 250 Pakistani students.
