Islamabad: 4 March, 2024.

Islamabad, On his first day in office, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif received congratulatory messages from leaders of a number of important countries.

The Prime Minister, who took oath of office earlier this afternoon, received telephone calls from Dr. Ebrahim Raisi, President of Iran and Dr. Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia today. The two leaders congratulated him on assuming office and expressed their desire to work closely with him to expand bilateral relations and regional cooperation. The Prime Minister thanked both leaders for their felicitations and invited them to visit Pakistan. Earlier, the Prime Minister had also received a telephone call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye in which the two leaders had reaffirmed their desire to work together to strengthen ties.

The Prime Minister was also congratulated by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who posted a message on X. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wrote a letter to congratulate the Prime Minister whereas President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan and Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal of Nepal also sent letters of felicitations to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

It may be recalled that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang wrote letters of congratulations to the Prime Minister yesterday, immediately after his election.

These messages represent the confidence of the world leaders in the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and their desire to maintain robust high level engagement with Pakistan.