logo
Saudi crown prince invites Pakistan PM to ‘Davos in the Desert' investment forum

Saudi crown prince invites Pakistan PM to ‘Davos in the Desert' investment forum

Arab News4 days ago
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday invited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to attend the ninth Future Investment Initiative (FII) Forum, the annual investment gathering often dubbed 'Davos in the Desert.'
The FII brings together global policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to explore investment trends, emerging technologies and global economic strategies in line with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
Sharif attended the event in Riyadh last October during a two-day official visit, engaging with Saudi leadership and participating in high-level discussions on economic and strategic cooperation.
'Amb. Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, called on the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister House earlier today,' Sharif's office said in a statement after the meeting.
'The Ambassador handed over to the Prime Minister a signed invitation letter from His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to participate in the ninth Future Investment Initiatives (FII) Forum to be held in Riyadh from 27-30 October, 2025.'
Upon accepting the invitation, Sharif conveyed warm greetings and respect to both King Salman bin Abdul Aziz as well as to the Saudi crown prince.
The prime minister also discussed recent regional developments in what the statement described as a warm and cordial atmosphere.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy close ties, with Riyadh bolstering Islamabad's foreign currency reserves in recent years by depositing money into Pakistan's central bank.
The support helped unlock International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout packages and stabilize the South Asian country's external finances.
During Sharif's visit to the kingdom in October 2024, the two nations signed 34 memoranda of understanding worth $2.8 billion, seven of which have since been converted into agreements valued at $560 million.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Netanyahu says will ‘allow' Palestinians to leave Gaza amid Israel's push for control
Netanyahu says will ‘allow' Palestinians to leave Gaza amid Israel's push for control

Al Arabiya

timean hour ago

  • Al Arabiya

Netanyahu says will ‘allow' Palestinians to leave Gaza amid Israel's push for control

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday revived calls to 'allow' Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, as the military prepares a broader offensive in the territory. Past calls to resettle Gazans outside of the war-battered territory, including from US President Donald Trump, have sparked concern among Palestinians and condemnation from the international community. Netanyahu defended his war policies in a rare interview with Israeli media, broadcast shortly after Egypt said Gaza mediators were leading a renewed push to secure a 60-day truce. The premier told Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS that 'we are not pushing them out, but we are allowing them to leave.' 'Give them the opportunity to leave, first of all, combat zones, and generally to leave the territory, if they want,' he said, citing refugee outflows during wars in Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. In the Gaza Strip, Israel for years has tightly controlled the borders and barred many from leaving. 'We will allow this, first of all within Gaza during the fighting, and we will certainly allow them to leave Gaza as well,' Netanyahu said. For Palestinians, any effort to force them off their land would recall the 'Nakba,' or catastrophe -- the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948. Netanyahu has endorsed Trump's suggestion this year to expel Gaza's more than two million people to Egypt and Jordan, while far-right Israeli ministers have called for their 'voluntary' departure. Cairo talks Israel's plans to expand its offensive into Gaza City come as diplomacy aimed at securing an elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal in the 22-month-old war has stalled for weeks, after the latest round of negotiations broke down in July. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced that Cairo was 'working very hard now in full cooperation with the Qataris and Americans,' aiming for 'a ceasefire for 60 days, with the release of some hostages and some Palestinian detainees, and the flow of humanitarian and medical assistance to Gaza without restrictions, without conditions.' Hamas said in a statement early Wednesday that a delegation of its leadership had arrived in Cairo for 'preliminary talks' with Egyptian officials. A Palestinian source earlier told AFP that the mediators were working 'to formulate a new comprehensive ceasefire agreement proposal' that would include the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza 'in one batch.' Netanyahu said in his interview he would oppose the staggered release of hostages, and instead would 'want to return all of them as part of an end to the war -- but under our conditions.' Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a breakthrough since a short-lived truce earlier this year. News of the potential truce talks came as Gaza's civil defense agency said Israel has intensified its air strikes on Gaza City in recent days, following the security cabinet's decision to expand the war there. Intensified strikes Netanyahu's government has not provided an exact timetable on when forces may enter the area, but civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said on Tuesday that air raids had already begun increasing over the past three days. Israel is 'intensifying its bombardment' using 'bombs, drones, and also highly explosive munitions that cause massive destruction,' he said. Bassal said that Israeli strikes across the territory, including on Gaza City, killed at least 33 people on Tuesday. 'The bombardment has been extremely intense for the past two days. With every strike, the ground shakes,' said Majed al-Hosary, a resident of Gaza City's Zeitun neighborhood. An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed four Al Jazeera employees and two freelance reporters outside a Gaza City hospital, with Israel accusing one of the slain correspondents of being a Hamas militant. Israel has faced mounting criticism over the war on Gaza. UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. Netanyahu is under mounting domestic pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages taken in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks -- 49 people including 27 the Israeli military says are dead -- as well as over his plans to expand the war. Israel has killed at least 61,599 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable.

US defers to Israel on killing of journalists
US defers to Israel on killing of journalists

Arab News

time3 hours ago

  • Arab News

US defers to Israel on killing of journalists

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday declined to criticize Israel over the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in the Gaza Strip, referring questions to its ally. The Israeli military alleged that Anas Al-Sharif, a prominent face on the Qatar-based network covering the violence, headed a Hamas 'terrorist cell' and was 'responsible for advancing rocket attacks' against Israelis. 'What I will tell you is that we refer you to Israel for information regarding Al-Sharif,' State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters. She voiced respect for journalists who cover war zones but said that Hamas members have been 'embedded in society, including posing as journalists.' 'It is a horrible thing to do for those of you who are committed to finding information for people to be in that situation,' she said. European and Arab governments, the United Nations and media rights groups all voiced outrage over the killing. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that there needed to be 'clear evidence' for Israel's allegations and respect for rules of war against targeting journalists. Al Jazeera said four other employees — correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and cameramen Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa — were also killed when the strike hit a tent set up for journalists outside the main gate of Al-Shifa Hospital. According to local journalists who knew him, Sharif had worked at the start of his career with a Hamas communication office, where his role was to publicize events organized by the group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2006.

Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians
Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians

Arab News

time4 hours ago

  • Arab News

Israel rejects UN allegations that its forces have sexually abused detained Palestinians

UNITED NATIONS: The UN chief warned Israel that the United Nations has 'credible information' of sexual violence and other violations by Israeli forces against detained Palestinians, which Israel's UN ambassador dismissed as 'baseless accusations.' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to Ambassador Danny Danon that he is 'gravely concerned' about reported violations against Palestinians by Israeli military and security forces in several prisons, a detention center and a military base. Guterres said he was putting Israeli forces on notice that they could be listed as abusers in his next report on sexual violence in conflict 'due to significant concerns of patterns of certain forms of sexual violence that have been consistently documented by the United Nations.' Danon, who circulated the letter and his response Tuesday, said the allegations 'are steeped in biased publications.' 'The UN must focus on the shocking war crimes and sexual violence of Hamas and the release of all hostages,' he said. Danon was referring to the militant group's surprise attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, where some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage. Israeli authorities said women were raped and sexually abused. The Hamas attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but that about half were women and children. Danon stressed that 'Israel will not shy away from protecting its citizens and will continue to act in accordance with international law.' Because Israel has denied access to UN monitors, it has been 'challenging to make a definitive determination' about patterns, trends and the systematic use of sexual violence by its forces, Guterres said in the letter. He urged Israel's government 'to take the necessary measures to ensure immediate cessation of all acts of sexual violence, and make and implement specific time-bound commitments.' The secretary-general said these should include investigations of credible allegations, clear orders and codes of conduct for military and security forces that prohibit sexual violence, and unimpeded access for UN monitors. In March, UN-backed human rights experts accused Israel of 'the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence.' The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory said it documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the UN Human Rights Council, which commissioned the team of independent experts, as an 'anti-Israel circus' that 'has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.' His statement did not address the findings themselves.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store