A delegation of former army chief Gen (r) Raheel Sharif-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) arrived in Pakistan on Sunday during it’s first-ever visit to the country.
The visit comes ahead of the Saudi crown prince’s scheduled visit to Pakistan on February 17. A special aircraft carrying the delegation arrived at Islamabad’s Nur Khan air base.
According to reports, the two-day visit is considered to hold strategic importance under current circumstances. The delegation will return to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The visiting delegation is likely to hold key meetings with the civil and military leadership of the country. The military officials are expected to meet Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi besides Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Zubair Mahmood Hayat.
The former army chief will also hold a special meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan where matters pertaining to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s upcoming visit to Pakistan will be discussed, reports said.
Regional security situation and measures taken against terrorism will also be discussed in the meetings.
In December 2018, Gen (r) Raheel had dismissed the notion that the military coalition was aimed against any particular country, nation or sect without any mentions.
He said this while briefing the Senate chairman, who was on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, on performance and objectives behind formation of the military alliance. The former COAS said the basic objective of IMCTC was to fight against the menace of terrorism until its eradication.
Saudi Arabia had acquired the services of Gen (r) Raheel as head of the IMCTC cobbled together in December 2015.
Pakistan is likely to sign a number of investment deals, including the construction of a multi-billion-dollar oil refinery in the port city of Gwadar during the upcoming visit. The Saudi crown prince will follow-up on agreements signed between the two countries during Prime Minister Imran’s visit to the KSA last year.
Saudi Arabia agreed to provide $6 billion package to Pakistan following the second visit of the prime minister.
