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PM Shehbaz will arrive in London on May 2 and depart the city on May 7, extending the tour by a day over the original plans.
New Delhi: Amid the looming threat of bankruptcy and political turmoil, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will embark on a six-day official visit to the United Kingdom. He will hold bilateral meetings with his UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak, and seek political guidance from his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif.
PM Shehbaz will arrive in London on May 2 and depart the city on May 7, extending the tour by a day over the original plans, according to official documents accessed by The New Indian.
Initially, the prime minister was scheduled to visit the UK for five days between May 3 and May 7. However, the visit was later reworked, as per the Pakistan foreign ministry’s internal communications regarding diplomatic clearance for his aircraft.
Shehbaz will travel in Pakistan Air Force’s large cabin class business jet Gulfstream-450, which is considerably smaller than those used by the heads of Pakistan’s neighbors.
“The diplomatic flight clearance should be valid for 10 days for detailed and standby aircraft with effect from respective flight dates,” reads a letter issued by the Pakistani foreign minister.
There is no official confirmation of the visit from either Pakistan or the UK.
The visit comes at a time when PM Shehbaz’s government is struggling to secure loans from international financial institutions and foreign countries to save the country from defaulting on existing debt service, along with other internal challenges.
Interestingly, PM Shehbaz won a confidence vote in the National Assembly on Thursday – a step that has strengthened his grip on power as he faces mounting political challenges from ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan and criticism from the judiciary.
After the confidence vote, which he himself sought in a surprising move after some rulings by higher judiciary questioned parliament’s confidence in him, PM Shehbaz spoke at length about the rulings and warned of “serious consequences.”
During his UK visit, Shehbaz may also discuss the recent global developments related to the Russia-Ukraine war, in which Pakistan is also an actor. As reported earlier by The New Indian, Pakistan Ordinance Factory, the state-run defense manufacturer, has been supplying heavy weaponry, including rockets and ammunition, to Kyiv via London and some other countries.
He is likely to spend some days with his elder brother and former Pakistani PM, Nawaz Sharif, who has been in London since November 2019 when he was allowed to go there for treatment but never returned. It will be Shehbaz’s fourth time seeking guidance from elder Sharif since he assumed office in April last year.
