What happened
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday, 6 August 2026, beginning an official visit at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
He was accompanied by Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who had been in the region after a visit to Jordan, was also part of the delegation.
Makkah’s Deputy Governor Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz and Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Abdulrahman Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley received the prime minister and the Pakistani delegation on arrival in Jeddah.
Talks on regional tension
Speaking at the Foreign Office’s weekly media briefing earlier in the day, spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the visit from 6 to 8 August would cover bilateral relations and regional developments. He said the prime minister would meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with talks focusing on strengthening Pakistan-Saudi relations and exchanging views on regional and international developments of mutual interest.
The visit took place against heightened tensions in the Gulf and a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz. Andrabi said Oman had consistently played a positive and constructive role in promoting peace, stability and de-escalation, and expressed hope that an agreement on the Strait would pave the way for the resumption of technical-level talks between Iran and the United States.
He also cited recent diplomacy by Dar, including telephone conversations with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on 30 July and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on 3 August, covering the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab, Palestine and the wider Middle East. Dar invited the Iranian foreign minister to visit Pakistan, the spokesperson said.
Jerusalem and Afghanistan
Dar represented Pakistan at a ministerial meeting on Jerusalem in Amman, Jordan, on 5 August, where Pakistan reaffirmed support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and an independent, sovereign and contiguous state based on the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The fifth meeting of the R4 foreign ministers — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye — reaffirmed support for Palestinian rights and stressed coordination to promote peace and de-escalation in the region.
On Afghanistan, the spokesperson renewed Pakistan’s call for Kabul to prevent its territory from being used for terrorism and said Pakistan and the United States viewed the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as a common threat. He said Pakistan did not oppose humanitarian or economic assistance to Afghanistan but urged donor countries to verify that their aid did not reach terrorist organisations.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 6 August 2026.
- Geo News — "PM Shehbaz arrives in Saudi Arabia as Middle East conflict rages on"6 August 2026 · The Jeddah arrival, the delegation, the 6-8 August talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Foreign Office briefing.
- Pakistan Mission to the UN, Geneva — Foreign Office press briefing transcript6 August 2026 · The official announcement of the visit, the R4 meeting in Amman and the call on Kabul over the TTP.
