General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) called on His Excellency Lieutenant General Fayyad Al-Ruwaili, Chief of General Staff (CGS), Saudi Armed Forces in Riyadh, today.
According to the statement released by the media wing of Pakistan Military Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Wednesday, matters of mutual interest, regional security situation including Afghan Peace Process, defense and security, and military to military cooperation were discussed during the meeting.
ISPR in its statement added that COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa emphasized the need to further enhance military to military cooperation between the two Armed Forces and said that Pakistan-KSA cooperation will have a positive impact on peace and security in the region.
During the meeting, CGS KSA thanked the COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his sentiments and assured of full cooperation and support from KSA in all initiatives aimed at improving regional cooperation, peace, and stability.
COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday ahead of the trip by Prime Minister Imran Khan to Saudi Arabia later this week.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa was received by Pakistan’s recently-appointed Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Lt-Gen (retd) Bilal Akbar and Saudi military officials. He will meet Saudi civil and military leadership in what seems to be part of the preparation of the prime minister’s scheduled to take place on May 7.
The visit of the Army Chief and upcoming trip by the premier is seen as significant as these developments suggest a thaw in ties between the two countries.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia Relations
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have enjoyed a longstanding strategic relationship, which in recent years met with certain roadblocks.
The first real test of their ties came in 2015 when Pakistan refused to send troops to join the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen.
The relationship returned to some normalcy after Pakistan joined the Saudi-led Islamic military alliance against terrorism and sent former army chief General (retd) Raheel Sharif to attend the group.
When Prime Minister Imran took charge in August 2018, Saudi Arabia extended a $6 billion financial package to Pakistan to shore up its depleting foreign reserves.
