ISLAMABAD – Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif will reach Islamabad on a day-long visit on February 7 to discuss various matters including release of Pakistani prisoners detained in the kingdom.
The Saudi minister will hold meetings with President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan among other key government and security officials. He will also meet his Pakistani counterpart Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed.
“[Both sides] will discuss important affairs, including the regional situation and the release of Pakistani prisoners in Saudi Arabia,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
In end-January, the Saudi Arabia cabinet approved the draft of a prisoner exchange agreement with Pakistan.
Under the agreement, convicted prisoners will be swapped between the two countries, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
The cabinet also approved draft agreements for cooperation against crimes and a document to finalise the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pakistan on illicit anti-human trafficking and drugs.
The approval for the agreements was granted in the meeting chaired by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz.
In May 2021, former special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari revealed Islamabad and Riyadh had signed a prisoner transfer agreement to repatriate over 2,000 Pakistani prisoners languishing in Saudi Arabia’s jails.
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