Prime Minister (PM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to participate in the 2nd Joint Arab Islamic Summit, being held in Riyadh on Monday.

At her weekly news briefing here in Islamabad on Thursday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the Summit is being convened at the initiative of government of Saudi Arabia to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

The Summit will be a follow up to the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit held on 11th of November last year in Riyadh to discuss the situation in Gaza and other occupied territories.

The Heads of State and governments and senior officials from Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries are expected to participate in the Summit.

At the Summit, the Prime Minister will reiterate Pakistan’s full support to the Palestinian cause. He will call for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza, urging an urgent and unconditional ceasefire and immediate cessation of the ongoing Israeli adventurism in the region that is endangering security of the countries in the Middle East.

Pakistan will also call for providing international protection for the Palestinian people and for establishment of an independent state of Palestine on the border of 4th of June 1967 with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other Arab League and OIC member states.