Pakistans Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to visit Saudi Arabia on his first official trip abroad later this week. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Asim Iftikhar Ahmed confirmed that Sharif is preparing to visit Saudi Arabia at the head of a high-level delegation, according to Bloomberg News Agency. “The Premier’s visit is his first official one abroad since his designation on April 11,” the official Pakistan News Agency quoted the spokesman as saying. On Monday, Sharif chaired a high-level meeting to discuss matters related to his Saudi visit, during which he affirmed the brotherly ties between the two countries. The Pakistani PM issued directives to concerned authorities to make serious efforts and further deepen the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Earlier in April, Pakistan’s parliament elected Sharif as the country’s new prime minister, a day after an opposition no-confidence vote against incumbent Imran Khan ousted him.