UAE’s Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Arrives In Pakistan, Meets Imran Khan

Monitoring Desk: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed reached Islamabad on Sunday to come face-to-face with the country’s prime minister, Imran Khan.

Sheikh Mohamed, who is also Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, was received by Mr Khan at the Islamabad airport during an official reception ceremony.

The two then held a meeting to discuss ways to enhance co-operation and friendship between the the UAE and Pakistan.

Sheikh Mohamed and Mr Khan also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The meeting is the third to have taken place between the two men in less than three months.

A few weeks ago, the UAE pledged to deposit $3 billion (Dh11 billion) in the State Bank of Pakistan to support the country’s financial and monetary policy.

In December, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development said it will deposit the money to enhance liquidity and monetary reserves of foreign currency at the Bank.

A month prior, Mr Khan visited Abu Dhabi and met with Sheikh Mohamed. The two discussed the strengthening of ties and investments, and exchanged views on regional and international developments of mutual concern.

It was Mr Khan’s second visit to Abu Dhabi in three months and Sheikh Mohamed last visited Pakistan in January 2007.

The UAE is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in the Middle East. The Emirates is home to more than 1.6 million Pakistani residents and their remittances total about Dh1.59bn per year. The UAE exports goods worth Dh27.5bn to Pakistan annually and imports Dh3.2bn worth of goods from Pakistan.

During Mr Khan’s visit in November, the two countries agreed to develop their relationship into a “Long-Term Strategic Economic Partnership”.

Sheikh Mohamed is the patron of the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Programme which aims to eradicate polio worldwide.

More than 57 million children were vaccinated against polio between 2014 and 2018, under the programme.