Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in Pakistan on Saturday evening and engaged in a one-on-one discussion with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Following the tête-à-tête between the two leaders, a delegation-level meeting was held between representatives from both countries in which “both the leaders covered the entire gamut of bilateral relations to enhance cooperation in diverse fields”, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
The Qatari emir landed at Rawalpindi’s Nur Khan airbase and was accorded a red carpet welcome. He was received by the premier who personally drove the leader from the airport to the Prime Minister House, where an official welcome ceremony will take place.
The Qatari emir is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising key ministers and senior officials.
He is visiting Pakistan after a break of over four years. He last toured Islamabad in March of 2015.
The Qatari leader will also meet President Arif Alvi.
“The two sides will discuss ways and means of building a robust and mutually beneficial economic partnership. During the visit, Pakistan and Qatar will sign MoUs/agreements for enhanced bilateral cooperation in different areas,” the Foreign Office had announced earlier.
“The visit of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is expected to further strengthen the close fraternal ties between Pakistan and Qatar and deepen bilateral cooperation in diverse fields,” it added.
Earlier, in a post on Instagram, Prime Minister Khan claimed the Qatari emir would announce an investment of around $22 billion. This would be greater than the investment promised by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman earlier this year.
PM Khan had visited Qatar in January.
Security measures
Intelligence-base operations are being launched in the capital as part of security measures ahead of the arrival of the Qatari emir, Dawn has learnt.
The operations are being conducted jointly by the teams of armed forces, the Counter Terrorism Force of Capital and the capital police, a senior police officer stated, adding that in this regard intelligence wings of the forces, CTF and police’s special branch mount vigilance all over the capital, especially rural areas, to collect information.
Besides, the special branch of the capital police also deployed officials all around the capital to gather prior information for necessary and precautionary measures, officials said.
Two units of Rangers along with the capital police would perform security duties during the visit of the Qatari emir, they said, adding that the Red Zone would be partially sealed during the period for strictly restricting the entry of the unconcern persons.
In this regard different roads leading towards the Red Zone would be closed to the general public, the officials said, adding that eight police pickets in and around the Red Zone were also strengthened by deploying more security personnel.
Vigilance would be mounted at the Margalla Hills by deploying personnel of the police and paramilitary troops, they stated, adding that two trails of the hills falling in the area of Red Zone were closed for two days.
