That the crown prince of Abu Dhabi deserved a red carpet welcome was a fact. He also deserved to be welcomed by the prime minister Imran Khan himself at the airport. After all, his country has extended highly valuable support to Pakistan to help it deal with growing external sector challenges. In a rare gesture, Prime Minister Imran Khan met Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Pakistan Air Force base and a formation of air force jets marked his arrival with a flyby.

The crown prince was also presented with a guard of honour by a contingent of armed forces. Not only is the UAE country's largest trading partner, it is also one of those Gulf countries that host a very large number of Pakistani expatriates. These Pakistanis work there, send highly precious foreign exchange back to their country. Yes, no one can belittle the fact that over 1.5 million Pakistanis live in the UAE and send millions of dollars in remittances back home. His visit has provided the PTI government a highly valuable opportunity to strength Pakistan-UAE ties in diverse fields. The UAE deciding to set up an oil refinery in Pakistan is indeed a welcome development.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019