ISLAMABAD: Pakistani President Dr. Arif Alvi said on Thursday Pakistan attaches high value to relations with Egypt and the two countries had strong defense relations.
Talking to Egyptian Commander in Chief and Minister for Defense General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki in Islamabad, Alvi said the two countries had great potential to cooperate in defense production, an official statement about the meeting said.
Egyptian Commander-in-Chief and Minister for Defense and Military Production General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki calls on President Dr. Arif Alvi in Islamabad on Feb. 27, 2020. (APP)
“The visit of Egypt’s Defense Minister was very successful and will further boost bilateral relations which are established on the basis of shared religion and brotherhood. We share Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) membership and have deep rooted relations in diverse fields including defense,” Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui told Arab News.
She said Pakistan wanted to strengthen the relationship through more high-level visits between the two countries.
“We want to expand bilateral relations at all levels across all areas of interest, be it a political, economic, defense and cultural,” Farooqui said.
General Zaki is on a four-day official visit to Pakistan in which he held meetings with both civil and military leaders of the country and discussed bilateral, regional and international issues.
According to a statement by issued by the Prime Minister office, Egyptian Defense Minister called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday where Khan highlighted the close, cordial relations between Pakistan and Egypt.
“The Prime Minister underscored the shared commitment of the leadership in the two countries to deepen bilateral collaboration in diverse fields. He also reiterated the resolve to take Pakistan-Egypt relations to a new level,” the statement said, adding that PM Khan had invited President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience.
“Gen. Zaki expressed satisfaction over the existing level of defense cooperation, including frequent exchange of visits, training exchange programs and joint exercises,” the statement added.
An Egyptian delegation headed by General Zaki also met Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at GHQ on Wednesday.
During the meeting, matters of mutual interest, military to military ties, defense and security cooperation were discussed, the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said.
Pakistan’s Minister for Defense Production Zobaida Jalal also met the visiting delegation and said both countries could put their strengths together and work for joint ventures and cooperation.
“I invite the visiting dignitary to visit Pakistani Defense Industries i.e Pakistan Ordinance Factories’, Heavy Industry Taxila, National Radio Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) etc to see the defense capabilities of Pakistan,” Jalal said.
During the meeting, General Zaki invited The Pakistani delegation for a reciprocal visit and said, “these visits to defense industries will not only strengthen bilateral ties but will also make us familiar with mutual defense capabilities.”
