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The postponement of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman's (MBS) visit to Pakistan has created a squabble between the coalition government and main opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The bickering began with the statement of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday claiming that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman's (MBS) visit to Pakistan had been postponed due to the PTI's ongoing long march towards Islamabad, reported The News International. Taking to Twitter, Asif said, "Imran Khan's first sit-in seven years ago had led to the cancellation of Chinese President Xi Jinping's to Pakistan and now the Saudi crown prince's visit has been postponed due to the announcement of the November 21 sit-in. This person is working on an agenda against the country". Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Muhammad Bin Salman's much-anticipated visit to Pakistan has been postponed, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Saturday, said a news report. Meanwhile, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry engaged in a Twitter spat with Defence Minister Khwaja Asif over the issue, reported The News International. "Firstly, Khawaja Asif is the defence minister of Pakistan but morally he is so low as to feel no problem in telling a lie. Muhammad Bin Salman has postponed his visit to the whole of Asia, not just Pakistan," he said in a tweet. In another tweet, he said, "The second fact is that analysts in other countries are suggesting their rulers that dealing with the current rulers in Pakistan will show their disassociation with the people of Pakistan. Hence, any leader interested in long-term relations with Pakistan would maintain his distance from the present rulers". Prince Mohammad bin Salman was due to reach Islamabad on November 21, on a two-day visit but the visit was not officially announced by either Riyadh or Islamabad. However, diplomats did not contradict the reports on the Saudi Crown prince's visit to Pakistan in the media. Even, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after his recent meeting with Prince Salman, had remarked that he was looking forward to the monarch's visit, reported The News International. When The News International contacted the Foreign Office's spokesperson, she confirmed that the visit had been postponed while a new date would be announced later. After a lot of interaction between Riyadh and Islamabad, around 7 pm on Saturday, The News was told by a government official, "We will issue a coordinated announcement soon". However, no agreement could be reached and a coordinated statement was not issued. On Sunday, when The News reached out to the same official it was told, "Not today", despite the fact that Sunday is a working day in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, PPP stalwart Senator Farhatullah Babar tweeted, "Postponement of the visit of Saudi Crown Prince is a moment of reflection. Are there parallels with the postponement of President Xi scheduled visit to Pakistan in 2014?" (ANI)
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