Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan a sincere friend: PM Shehbaz Sharif
May 15, 2022 11:38 PM
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan a “sincere friend of Pakistan”. The PM remembered the former president of UAE when he met President Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi today.
According to the PM Office, other members of Abu Dhabi’s royal family were also present at the condolence meeting. The PM was accompanied by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to UAE Afzaal Mahmood.
https://twitter.com/PakPMO/status/1525890019965149185
PM Shehbaz conveyed the profound sympathies and condolences of the leadership, government, and people of Pakistan to the leadership of the UAE.
“Pakistan and the UAE are bound by a close fraternal relationship. Under the leadership of Late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the relationship between Pakistan and the UAE scaled new heights. He was a sincere friend of Pakistan,” PM Shehbaz said.
The premier said that the “invaluable contributions” of the former UAE president would be “long remembered” by Pakistan.
He also told the Abu Dhabi royal family that Pakistan has announced three days of national mourning from May 13-15, with the national flag flying at half-mast in solidarity with the UAE.
The PM stopped over in Abu Dhabi while returning from London to Pakistan, where he had met his brother and PML-N supremo, Nawaz Sharif.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed passed away on Friday. “The Ministry of Presidential Affairs condoles the people of the UAE, the Arab and Islamic nation and the world over the demise of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE,” a WAM statement read.
The UAE government announced three days of public holiday and 40 days of mourning. Born in 1948 to UAE's founding father Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Khalifa started his official duties in 1966 and went on to rule the country from November 3, 2004, to date.
Sheikh Khalifa was the second president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the 16th Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven Emirates which comprise the UAE.