Prime Minister Imran Khan met Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, at the Diwan-i-Amiri in Doha on Tuesday ─ the second and last day of his visit to Qatar.
A red carpet was rolled out to welcome the premier at the Amiri Diwan where a formal ceremony was held in his honour. Khan was presented with a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent of the Qatari Amiri Guards, and the national anthems of both countries were played on the occasion.
PTI✔@PTIofficial
Prime Minister of Pakistan @ImranKhanPTI Official Welcome Ceremony and Guard of Honour at Diwan-e-Amiri Doha Qatar.
(21.01.19)#PTI #PMIKVisitsQatar #Pakistan #Qatar
A one-on-one meeting was held between Khan and Sheikh Tamim, Radio Pakistan reported. Both sides discussed the entire spectrum of bilateral ties, and regional and international matters of mutual interest. The two sides also held delegation-level talks.
PTI✔@PTIofficial
وزیر اعظم پاکستان عمران خان دیوان امیری پہنچ گئے، دیوان امیری پہنچنے پر امیرقطر عزت مآب شیخ تمیم بن حماد الثانی نے ان کا پر تپاک استقبال کیا، دیوان امیری دوحہ میں وزیر اعظم پاکستان عمران خان کے اعزاز میں استقبالیہ تقریب کا انعقاد#PMIKVisitsQatar
The prime minister flew to Doha on Monday at the invitation of the Qatari emir. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Adviser to the PM Abdul Razak Dawood, Special Assistant Zulfikar Bukhari, Board of Investment (BOI) Chairman Haroon Sharif and chairperson of the task force on energy Nadeem Babar.
Besides meetings with Qatari leadership, the prime minister is expected to meet the business and investment community of Qatar, and to address the Pakistani community during the visit.
Prime Minister Khan had discussed bilateral relations with a focus on economic cooperation in a meeting with the Qatari premier and interior minister, Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani yesterday.
LNG contract with Qatar
Changing its long-standing position, the government has decided to request Qatar for a reduction in the price of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and its supplies on delayed payments under the existing 15-year supply contract.
The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has been criticising the contracts signed by the previous PML-N government for the import of LNG from Qatar at a price equivalent to 13.39 per cent of the international benchmark crude oil price, and two terminals set up by the private sector for re-gasifying imported LNG.
Petroleum minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the government would abide by the 15-year agreement with Qatar and another 10-year contract with another supplier that became the basis of the final LNG price with Qatar.
Pakistan’s LNG import bill roughly comes to about $4bn per annum.
It has been learnt that the government is working on comprehensive energy policy to meet energy requirements with the cooperation of countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar with huge gas reserves.
