Prince William and Kate in Pakistan - in pictures

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have arrived in Pakistan for a five-day visit aimed at strengthening ties between Britain and the South Asian country.

The royal couple arrived last night at the Nur Khan airbase, near capital Islamabad, where they were greeted by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, says The Telegraph.

Details of the visit have been kept secret owing to security concerns, and more than 1,000 Pakistani police officers have been deployed to keep Prince William and Kate safe as they travel around the Commonwealth country.

Kensington Palace said security issues and political uncertainty meant that the tour was the couple’s “most complex” to date.

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In his first official engagement in Pakistan, the Prince met pupils at a government-run college in Islamabad and spoke about the importance of young people learning about mental health, reports the BBC.

One girl told the Royal that she and her classmates were “big fans of your mother”, to which he replied: “You were, really? Oh, that’s very sweet of you. I was a big fan of my mother too.”

The Duke and Duchess later met Prime Minister Imran Khan for lunch, during which they discussed the Pakistani leader’s former sporting career. 

“William recalled how everyone laughed at a gathering in Richmond-upon-Thames in 1996 when the former Sussex and Worcestershire cricketer announced his political ambition to the then teenage Prince William and Diana,” according to the Daily Mail.

The Duke and Duchess will go on to visit Lahore in eastern Pakistan, as well as the north and west of the country.

They are the first British royals to officially visit the country since the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall toured the region in 2006.