PNS Aslat stops off in Jeddah for three-day visit

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan navy ship PNS Aslat spent three days in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on its return home from deployment in the Mediterranean according to an official statement from the Pakistan Navy’s Directorate of Public Relations on Saturday.
The country’s navy “has always been instrumental in furthering naval diplomacy in the form of goodwill visits and naval exercises with friendly countries,” the statement said, adding that PNS Aslat’s three-day port call to Jeddah was part of that same plan.
Its stay in Jeddah “was aimed at strengthening the existing bonds of friendship and brotherhood between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” noted the statement.
During the ship’s time in the Kingdom’s territorial waters, a naval delegation, headed by Commodore Muhammad Faisal Abbasi, met with the deputy commander of the Western Fleet of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces (RSNF).
PNS Aslat also hosted a reception that was attended by the consul general of Pakistan, the Turkish ambassador, and top diplomats from several other countries, including the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy.
Officials from Pakistan’s army and navy, who are working on various assignments in the Kingdom, along with prominent members of the country’s business community, were also present.
PNS Aslat’s visit to Jeddah “provided impetus to diplomatic and military ties between two brotherly countries,” according to the statement.