ISLAMABAD: A multinational air exercise, “ACES Meet 2021-1,” hosted by Pakistan, concluded on Thursday, with the Pakistan Foreign Office saying on Friday that the participation of the Saudi air force was “yet another manifestation” of growing ties between the two nations.
The two-week exercise had kicked off at an operational air base of the PAF last Monday with the objective to maximize the combat readiness of participating countries through near-realistic and role-oriented air-to-air combat training, with a focus on counterterrorism operations.
“The participation of Saudi Air Force in PAF exercises ACES Meet 21 is yet another manifestation of the fraternal ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, the spokesperson of the Pakistani foreign office, told Arab News on Friday. “The two countries have strong economic, political, security and military cooperation at all levels. Relations between the two brotherly countries have continued to grow over time.”
Saudi Arabia and the US brought combat aircraft and fairly large contingents of pilots and technical staff to the exercise. The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) contingent consisted of 180 officials, including pilots and technicians, who arrived with several Tornado multirole combat aircraft and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. The United States Air Force (USAF) team comprised 70 members, while around 50 officials from Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain were in Pakistan as observers at the multinational air exercise.
“PAF is happy to share its experiences and expertise in the field of Counter-Terrorism Operations with RSAF & USAF,” PAF said in a statement. “At the same time, Exercise ACES Meet has also provided a good opportunity for us for mutual learning … With the successful and meaningful conduct of exercise, we have consolidated our resolve, that we stand by each other as allies and friends.”

Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki, who attended the drill’s closing ceremony as guest of honor thanked PAF for arranging the exercise.
“Such exercises increased the comradeship and professional excellence of the participants,” the envoy was quoted as saying.