ISLAMABAD: Major General Talal Abdullah Al-Otaibi, military adviser to the Saudi Minister of Defense, called on Pakistani chief of army staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday, the Pakistan army’s media wing said.
The two leaders discussed matters of mutual interest, regional security, the situation in Afghanistan and bilateral defense relations.
“COAS said that Pakistan values its historical and brotherly relations with the Kingdom and acknowledges its unique place in the Islamic world,” the army said. “COAS stressed upon the urgency for swiftly devising an institutional mechanism for channeling humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan in order to avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe. He underscored the importance of peace and reconciliation initiatives in Afghanistan.”
The visiting dignitary vowed to enhance cooperation with Pakistan in various fields and appreciated Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan, its special efforts for border management and role in regional stability.
On December 19, Pakistan hosted the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Corporation’s Council of Foreign Ministers. The session had been called by Saudi Arabia and its focus was the looming economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Around 70 delegations from OIC member states, non-members and regional and international organizations attended the summit in Islamabad. Around 20 delegations were led by foreign ministers and 10 by deputies or ministers of state.
Other than foreign ministers from Islamic countries, delegations from the European Union and the P5+1 group of the UN Security Council, including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, were also in attendance.
At the conclusion of the summit, OIC members states agreed to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund to channel assistance to Afghanistan, appoint a special envoy and work together with the UN in the war-ravaged country.
Top Saudi military adviser calls on Pakistan army chief
https://arab.news/pjy53
Top Saudi military adviser calls on Pakistan army chief
- General Bajwa calls for devising institutional mechanism to send humanitarian aid to Afghanistan
- Saudi general lauds Pakistan’s contributions in Afghanistan, border management
Hundreds of migrants, including Pakistanis, land in Greece after search operation at sea
- Rescued migrants were taken to a temporary facility on Crete after reaching the port of Agia Galini
- Greece has made deportations of rejected asylum seekers a priority under its migration policy
ATHENS: Greece’s Coast Guard rescued about 540 migrants from a fishing boat off Europe’s southernmost island of Gavdos on Friday, one of the biggest groups to reach the country in recent months.
The migrants were found during a Greek search operation some 16 nautical miles (29.6 km) off Gavdos, a Coast Guard statement said. They are all well and are being taken to a temporary facility on the nearby island of Crete after reaching the port of Agia Galini, a Coast Guard official said, adding most of the migrants were men from Bangladesh, Egypt and Pakistan.
In a separate incident on Thursday, the EU’s border agency Frontex rescued 65 men and five women from two migrant boats in distress off Gavdos, the Greek Coast Guard said.
Greece was on the front line of a 2015-16 migration crisis when more than a million people from the Middle East and Africa landed on its shores before moving on to other European countries, mainly Germany.
Flows have ebbed since then, but both Crete and Gavdos — the two Mediterranean islands nearest to the African coast — have seen a steep rise in migrant boats, mainly from Libya, reaching their shores over the past year and deadly accidents remain common along that route.
Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy will be eligible for help in dealing with migratory pressures under a new EU mechanism when the bloc’s pact on migration and asylum enters into force in mid-2026.
The center-right government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said deportation of rejected asylum seekers will be a priority.
