Pakistan PM Imran shames his country's diplomats; asks them to learn from Indian embassies

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed displeasure over the functioning of the country's diplomats & embassies in foreign countries and said that they should take a leaf from the book of Indian embassies who were functioning pro-actively. Addressing a meeting with Pakistan ambassadors, Pakistan PM Imran Khan claimed that he had received complaints from his countrymen in Saudi Arabia that the Pakistan embassy was unresponsive. Imran Khan said that he had started to receive feedback about the functioning of Pakistan embassies a year-and-a-half ago and that he was shocked by their 'callousness'. Moreover, he went on to cite other complaints from overseas Pakistanis on the citizen portal and rued over the 'unfortunate' manner in which the embassies treated or responded to their countrymen. Imran Khan said instead of helping the poor workers, the ambassadors dealt with them the way the British used to treat them during the colonial period.

"We cannot continue like this...Embassies' foremost work is to service the diaspora and then they should work to bring investment into the country that is going through very bad financial conditions right now," Imran Khan said.

Imran Khan asks Pakistan embassies to take a leaf out of Indian embassies' book

The meeting came in the wake of Islamabad calling back its ambassador from Saudi Arabia last week along with six other officials on complaints of mistreatment towards the Pakistanis working in the kingdom. Talking about the functioning of the embassies and the diplomats, Pakistan PM Imran Khan categorically stated that there was a need for change and that such a system could work in the colonial era of the British, not in the current era of Pakistan. He said that the biggest job of the embassies was to serve the Pakistani diaspora in various parts of the world and to bring in investments for the country at a time when Pakistan was burdened by a big financial crisis. Imran Khan drew a parallel between Indian and Pakistan embassies and noted that the former worked 'proactively' to bring investments for India as opposed to the latter's efforts.

Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will embark on a three-day official visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday during which he will discuss all areas of bilateral cooperation with the Kingdom's top leadership, as the two nations work to rebuild ties after recent setbacks. He has been invited by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. The Foreign Minister and other members of the Cabinet will be part of his delegation, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement. The Prime Minister's consultations with the Saudi leadership will cover all areas of bilateral cooperation including economic, trade, investment, energy, job opportunities for the Pakistani workforce, and welfare of Pakistani diaspora in the Kingdom. Several bilateral agreements/MoUs are expected to be signed during the visit, according to the FO.