Islamabad: Pakistan’s new army chief General Asim Munir held a meeting with the Saudi defence minister during the first leg of his trip to the Middle East. This is his first official foreign visit since taking office in late November.
Gen. Asim Munir is on a one-week (January 4-10) visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the military’s media wing ISPR confirmed on Thursday.
“COAS will be meeting the senior leadership of both brotherly countries to discuss matters of mutual interest, military-to-military cooperation and bilateral relations focusing on security-related subjects,” the official statement said.
Pakistan’s new army chief held a meeting with the Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi news agency SPA reported on Thursday. During the meeting, both officials discussed military and defence cooperation and ways to support and enhance them, in addition to discussing the most important regional and international issues of common interest.
The meeting was attended by the Saudi Chief of General Staff of the Kingdom Lieutenant-General Fayyad bin Hamed Al Ruwaili, Assistant Minister of Defense Eng. Talal bin Abdullah Al Otaibi, and a number of Saudi and Pakistani military and civilian officials.
Pakistan has maintained close diplomatic, defence, and economic relations with the two Arab countries. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are home to a large Pakistani diaspora.
The countries are also the biggest contributors to remittance inflows to Pakistan. The country received over 54 per cent of remittances from the Gulf region between January and November 2022, according to official statistics.
