ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia kicked off their first joint special forces exercise on Wednesday to enhance military cooperation and identify areas of mutual interest between the two countries' militaries, the Pakistan Army's media wing said.
According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the two-week-long exercise “Al-Battar I," took place at the Cherat military base in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
“The exercise is aimed at further harnessing the historic military-to-military relations between both the countries, including nurturing of joint employment concept and identifying areas of mutual interest for future military collaboration, with a view to accrue maximum benefits from each other’s experience in employment against terrorism,” the ISPR said.
The ISPR emphasized that such joint military endeavors are strategically aligned to enhance the existing bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and to fortify their historical ties on both the defense and diplomatic fronts.
Pakistan and the Kingdom have consistently nurtured robust strategic ties over the years, enabling the exchange of expertise in defense and diplomacy. Pakistan's history entails providing military training and counsel to Saudi Arabia, with the Kingdom reciprocating by procuring armaments and munitions from the South Asian country’s ordnance factories.
In a notable recognition earlier this year, Pakistani President Arif Alvi bestowed the Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence), one of the country’s distinguished civilian awards, upon the Kingdom’s defense attaché in Pakistan, Major General Awad bin Abdullah Al-zahrani.
