Military Drill: ‘Islamabad, Riyadh share cordial ties’

ISLAMABAD: The presence of Pakistan in the military exercise “Thunder of the North” in Saudi Arabia has shown that Pakistan enjoys cordial relations with the kingdom and both the nations will stand by each other in tough times, analysts say. Defence analyst Lt. General (R) Amjad Shoaib said that Pakistan is the only major military power in Saudi-led military alliance, although other countries have their own political significance in the world. Senior analyst Dr. A. Z. Hilali said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had historic bilateral relations which were based on religious grounds. “Saudi Arabia always supports Pakistan and it is a time-tested friend of our country. The Saudi forces are thankful to our military forces who provided them professional training”, he added. Economist Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said that Saudi Arabia always played its role in favour of Pakistan and helped in every hour of need.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2016.