Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said that “overseas Pakistanis are precious assets of the country” and stressed that the ambassadors should treat them better.
The above was said while the premier was addressing Pakistani ambassadors stationed across the globe, days after he had called back Pakistan’s envoy to Saudi Arabia over the mistreatment of the Pakistani expat community by the latter’s staff.
Last week, the PM had recalled Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz and members of the latter’s staff after reports of their alleged ‘mistreatment’ of the Pakistani expat community surfaced.
“The feedback provided by Pakistani expats living in Saudi Arabia was shocking,” the premier said on Wednesday. “An indifferent attitude towards the expat community is “unforgivable.”
He also read out complaints received on the Citizens Portal and slammed the “callousness” displayed by embassy workers. “The job of embassies is to serve their citizens,” the premier stressed.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia Bilal Akbar had met with Riyadh’s envoy in Islamabad Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki in the Saudi capital to discuss Prime Minister Imran’s upcoming visit to the Kingdom.
The premier is visiting Saudi Arabia next week on the invitation of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
In March, the crown prince had made a telephonic call to inquire about the prime minister’s health as the latter had tested positive for Covid-19 and was spending time in quarantine. Wishing Khan a quick recovery, Mohammed Bin Salman had invited him to visit Saudi Arabia after recovery which the prime minister accepted.
During their meeting, both ambassadors had reaffirmed their resolve to further strengthen the “time tested brotherhood and friendship between the two countries, with a renewed emphasis on economic cooperation.”
According to Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry, the visit will prove a milestone in bilateral relations, and the two countries are expected to sign several accords and memorandums of understanding (MoU) in diversified areas, especially economic and trade relations.
Last week, Ambassador Al-Malki told Arab News that “this visit will further strengthen relations between both countries in all fields,” adding that “there will be many memoranda of understanding” signed during the visit.
The two countries had inked agreements for $20 billion investment projects, during the crown prince’s visit to Pakistan in February 2019.
Al-Malki said that while work on the projects had “already begun,” a planned preferential trade agreement would also lead to broader economic cooperation.
