RIYADH/ISLAMABAD: Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday called on Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh and discussed military and defense ties.
Bajwa’s visit was “primarily military-affairs oriented,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said last week.
“We discussed bilateral relations, military cooperation, and our common vision for preserving regional security,” the Saudi deputy defense minister wrote in a tweet about his meeting with Bajwa.
The Saudi SPA news agency said military and defense ties and ways to strengthen joint cooperation for better security and stability in the region were discussed. Bajwa arrived in Riyadh on Monday, accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, and met Saudi army chief Gen. Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili in Riyadh.
“Military to military ties including training exchanges were focus of the meetings,” Pakistan military media wing ISPR said. Gen Bajwa is visiting Saudi Arabia at a time when statements by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi over the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) being lukewarm on the Kashmir dispute created controversy.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are long-time allies, with the Kingdom being one of Pakistan’s main sources of foreign remittances. In 2018, the Kingdom gave Pakistan a $3 billion loan and a $3.2 billion oil credit facility to help stave off its balance of payments crisis. On Saturday, Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Malki said the Kingdom had always stood by Pakistan and would “never abandon it in its time of need.”
“We have not left Pakistan before, and we will never leave it in difficult circumstances in the future as well,” he said during a meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar in Lahore.–ISPR
