Pakistani premier on fence-mending trip to Riyadh
Pakistan’s prime minister heads off for the Saudi capital of Riyadh in a bid to mend ties with Saudi Arabia over the Yemen crisis.
Premier Nawaz Sharif headed off for a one-day visit to Riyadh early Thursday. He is accompanied by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, army chief General Raheel Sharif and top officials of the Foreign Ministry, Radio Pakistan reported.
"The delegation will try to reassure the Saudis of support in case of any attack on the country," a Foreign Ministry official told dpa on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan's high-ranking delegation is to repair the damaged ties with Saudi Arabia over the Yemen crisis. Saudi Arabia asked for troops, jets and warships to be sent, but the Pakistan parliament voted to stay neutral in the Yemen crisis.
Saudi Arabia started its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 - without a UN mandate - in a bid to restore power to Yemen’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia in its military aggression against Yemen also targeted the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which took control of the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in September 2014.
Apart from trying to mend ties, Prime Minister Sharif will, during his visit, also discuss ways to find a peaceful solution to the Yemen crisis.
The visit takes place a week after King Salman bin Abdul Aziz refused to meet Pakistani delegation headed by Nawaz's younger brother Shahbaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia.
Around 2,600 people have been killed in the Saudi military aggression against Yemen so far, according to Yemeni sources.
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