National News

ISLAMABAD, (APP): The presence of Pakistan in military
exercise “North Thunder” in Saudi Arabia manifested that Pakistan enjoyed cordial relations with the Kingdom and both the nations would stand by each other in tough times, analysts say.
Talking to Radio Pakistan, different political and International Relations experts were of the view that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have historic bilateral relations and the cooperation between both countries covered several fields including social, economic and military relations
Defence analyst Lt. General (R) Amjad Shoaib said that Pakistan would perform advisory role in Saudi-led military alliance but personnel of the army were also a part of the recently concluded military exercise.
“Pakistan is only major military power in Saudi-led military alliance but other countries have their own political significance in the world”, he added.
Senior Analyst Dr. A. Z. Hilali said that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had historic bilateral relations which were based on religious grounds.
“Saudi Arabia always supports Pakistan and it is a time tested friend of our country. The Saudi forces are thankful to our military forces who provided them professional training”, he added.
He said the Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has visited Saudi Arabia twice to witness the `North Thunder’ military exercise.
Economist Mirza Ikhtiar Baig said that it was a history that Saudi Arabia always played its role in favor of Pakistan and helped in every hour of need.
He said Riyadh provided Pakistan oil when the international community imposed sanctions on Pakistan after its nuclear tests.
“Recently, during last year it provided Pakistan $1.5 billion which helped to strengthen its economy and now once again gave aid of 122 million dollars”, he added.
Former Ambassador B. A. Malik was of the view that the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been strong since decades.
“Pakistan is an important country of the region and Saudi Arabia is one of the favorite destinations of Pakistani diaspora abroad. The economic and political relations between the two countries are strengthening and both are realizing the importance of each” he added.