PM Shehbaz in Turkey on two-day official visit

Invited by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is visiting Turkiye today for a two-day official trip. He left early Friday morning.

The prime minister is leading a high-level delegation.

Alongside President Erdogan, PM Shehbaz Sharif will jointly inaugurate the third of the four Milgem Corvette ships for the Pakistan Navy’s PNS Khaibar at the Istanbul Shipyard.

Before his departure, the PM said in a tweet that the inauguration of the third Milgem Corvette ship represented the deepening defence cooperation between Turkiye and Pakistan.

As per a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO), discussions around bilateral relations, the regional situation and other issues of common interest are planned between the two leaders.

The FO said the PM is expected to engage with Turkiye's business community, interacting with their leaders where the president of the ECO Trade and Development Bank (ETDB) will also call on the prime minister.

Pakistan and Turkiye enjoy fraternal ties deeply embedded in commonalities of faith, culture and history and underpinned by exceptional cordiality and mutual trust, said the FO.

The Milgem project, based on joint collaboration between the two countries, represents a significant milestone in the Pakistan-Turkiye strategic partnership that continues to progress on an upward trajectory, the statement said.

The FO reported that the launching ceremony for the first Corvette for the Pakistan Navy, PNS Babur, was performed in Istanbul in August 2021 while the groundbreaking for the Second Ship, PNS Badr, was held in Karachi in May 2022.

PM Shehbaz visited Turkiye last in May-June 2022.