PM Imran Khan to receive Bahrain’s highest civilian award

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will receive Bahrain’s highest civil award, the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance in a special ceremony during an upcoming visit to the Gulf state.

This was confirmed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Zulfikar Bukhari in an interview to Arab News publication.

“Prime Minister is going on an official visit to Bahrain in the mid of December where he will be conferred Bahrain’s highest civilian award,” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Bukhari told Arab News.

He added that the premier would receive the award at a special ceremony to be held during his visit. PM Khan will also participate in the national day celebrations of Bahrain.

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PM Imran Khan is likely to visit three countries this month commencing from December 15. The premier will arrive in Bahrain on a two-day official visit on December 16. 

He will also pay a two-day visit to Switzerland from December 17 to participate in an international conference on refugees in Geneva.

Later, PM Khan will depart for a three-day visit to Malaysia starting from December 19 and he will return home on December 21.

This will be the first one-on-one meeting of the prime minister with Bahrain’s king. In August, the Indian prime minister was also conferred the same award.

On August 9, PM Imran Khan had contacted the King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa through a telephone call to take him into confidence on the Kashmir crisis.

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The prime minister had apprised the Bahraini king of India’s move to annex held Kashmir in violation of the UN resolutions.

Strongly opposing the steps India has taken in held Kashmir, PM Khan reiterated New Delhi has consistently been breaching the UN resolutions.

Indian-held Kashmir has been accepted as a disputed territory globally, he added. He urged world powers to take note of this irresponsible attitude on the part of India and play their role to maintain peace in the region.

The Bahraini king, expressing concern over the recent developments, said his government has continuously been monitoring the Kashmir situation. He called for dialogue to settle the Kashmir dispute.