Cash-strapped Pakistan gifts gold-plated submachine gun to Saudi Crown Prince

At a time when Pakistan is under immense global pressure to combat terrorism, the country's cash-strapped government has gifted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman a gold-plated assault rifle, according to media reports on Thursday.

The unusual gift for a visiting foreign dignitary was presented to Mohammad during his first official visit to Islamabad.

The News International reported that Pakistan's Senate delegation called on the Crown Prince at the Prime Minister's House where Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani gifted him a portrait of himself and a gold-plated submachine gun.

The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a submachine gun developed by German engineers, and this modified weapon has an elaborate pattern engraved on its gold-plated components, CNN reported.

The Prince is also Saudi Arabia's defence minister.

Presenting the Saudi Crown Prince with a weapon will likely raise eyebrows at a time when he has been embroiled in controversy over the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, ..