ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa met with Saudi military leadership during an official visit to Riyadh on Monday.
Gen. Bajwa was received by Saudi Arabia's Chairman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Gen. Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili. On his trip to the kingdom, he is accompanied by Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s intelligence agency.
Earlier on Monday, Senate of Pakistan Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani met with with Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, and reiterated Islamabad’s full support for Riyadh and readiness to protect the Two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia.
“Pakistani Parliament, especially the Upper House (Senate), reiterates its commitment that no sacrifice will be spared for defending the sanctity of Haramain,” a statement issued by Sanjrani’s office said, adding that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia “have always stood by each other in difficult times.”
The two officials also discussed other bilateral and regional issues, with Sanjrani asserting that they would “work in consultation on international issues and problems.”
“Pakistan can never forget Saudi Arabia’s support in every challenging time. We hope that Saudi Arabia will continue to cooperate in the same spirit,” he said, as quoted in the statement.
The two countries have been long-time allies. Saudi Arabia is one of Pakistan’s main sources of foreign remittances.
In 2018, the kingdom gave Pakistan a $3 billion loan and a $3.2 billion oil credit facility to help stave off its balance of payments crisis.
On Saturday, Al-Malki said that the Kingdom had always stood by Pakistan and would “never abandon it in its time of need.”
“We have not left Pakistan before, and we will never leave it in difficult circumstances in the future as well,” he said during a meeting with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar in Lahore.
