President Mohammed Shahabuddin met his Pakistani counterpart Arif Alvi in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj pilgrimage.
Shahabuddin and his family travelled to the Gulf kingdom on Jun 23 at the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to perform Hajj. After the annual pilgrimage, he went to Madinah from Makkah on Jun 30.
In Madinah, he visited Prophet Mohammad’s grave for Ziyarah and offered prayers at the adjacent Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. Shahabuddin returned home on Sunday.
Alvi had also gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj.
In a tweet on Tuesday, the Pakistani president posted photos of his meetings with Shahabuddin.
“Good meeting with President of Bangladesh Mr. Shahabuddin in Makkah, Mina and Madinah. Under Rawza-e-Rasool,” he wrote.
Alvi said he and Salman F Rahman, the prime minister’s advisor on private industry and investment who was with Shahabuddin, were childhood friends and they met after 60 years. “Allah's blessings will do wonders for our relationship.”
Salman also tweeted a photo of their meeting at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi. “Pleasure meeting @ArifAlvi President of Pakistan in Masjid Nabawi. I was 12 years old when we last met. Brought back lots of fond childhood memories.”
“I said to him we need an apology for 1971 in order to improve relations. We prayed for the welfare of the Ummah in the holy site.”
