Daily Times

A Boeing 777 has been demanded from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for the upcoming Saudi Arabia visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a private TV channel reported on Monday. According to details, the Foreign Ministry has requested Boeing 777 from PIA for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia. The MOFA has written a letter to the CEO of PIA, stating that orders have been issued to PIA to keep the Boeing 777 on standby. Sources said that during Imran Khan’s tenure, PIA planes were never requested for foreign tours whereas, during the PML-N era, PIA planes were always used for foreign tours. It may be noted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia on April 27. PM Sharif will perform Umrah during his Saudi Arabia visit. The premier along with a delegation is also expected to hold meetings with the Saudi leadership. It has been learnt that Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maryam Nawaz will also be part of the huge 74-member delegation accompanying the prime minister. Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb stated that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was not going to Saudi Arabia on a chartered plane.

The minister, in a statement in response to a tweet of former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders should not mislead the masses through false and baseless propaganda. She clarified that the prime minister would go to Saudi Arabia on a commercial flight and he would bear the expenses of his visit. For 10 years as Punjab’s chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif used to pay his travel expenses out of his own pocket.