Pakistan said on Saturday that the forthcoming visit of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz would further cement the existing cordial relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi king is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Feb. 1, as part of his Asian tour, which also took him to China, India and Malaysia.

It will be Abdullah's first visit to Pakistan as the king,and overall the fifth trip to this country he paid in the past on various occasions.

King Abdullah, 82, succeeded to the throne of the country of some 26 million people on Aug. 1, 2005 following the death of his half-brother and ruler of the country, King Fahd and also became the custodian of the two holy mosques.

The Saudi monarch will hold meetings with Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz besides other engagements, Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam told the Geo television.

"In political grounds both the countries have been the strong supporters of each others' stance on all the global issues," the spokesperson said.

"There is a great potential for further improvement of economic ties. And the visit would help realize it further," she said.

Source: Xinhua