PHOTO COURTESY: RADIO PAKISTAN
Acting President Mian Raza Rabbani conferred one of the top military decorations, Nishan-i-Imtiaz, on Commander Royal Saudi Naval Forces Vice Admiral Abdullah S Al-Sultan.
The award was conferred on the Saudi naval forces vice admiral in recognition of his outstanding services in bringing the naval forces of the two countries closer, Radio Pakistan reported.
Pakistan’s inclusion in Saudi alliance sparks confusion
The acting president decorated the top Saudi naval official with the prestigious award in a ceremony held in the federal capital on Wednesday.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Zaka Ullah, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Abdullah Marzouk also attended the ceremony.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy close, cordial and brotherly relations. Both the countries have longstanding defence and security cooperation and they have held joint military drills in the past.
The decoration of Royal Saudi Naval Forces official comes a day after Pakistan was included in a new military alliance of Islamic countries after an announcement made by Saudi Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman.
In a rare news conference in Riyadh the Saudi crown prince and defence minister said the alliance will coordinate efforts against terrorism in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan, but offered few concrete indications of how the military efforts might proceed.
Pak-Saudi anti-terror exercises kick off
Saudi Arabia had also mentioned Pakistan among the list of countries which were part of its alliance against the Houthi rebels in Yemen earlier this year. But Islamabad distanced itself from the Saudi alliance and instead called for a political solution to the conflict. The National Assembly also passed a unanimous resolution urging the government not to send its troops on the foreign soil.
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