RAWALPINDI: The military’s communications wing said on Thursday that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General Syed Asim Munir, will go on official business to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from January 4–10. Since becoming the army chief, Gen. Munir has never taken an official travel outside of Pakistan.
As per the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army commander will meet with senior leaders of both nations during the tour to address issues of common interest, military-to-military cooperation, and bilateral relations with an emphasis on security-related issues.
The COAS Asim Munir met with Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman in Riyadh, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), where they spoke about issues of mutual interest.
Gen. Asim Munir’s nomination as the new army leader was congratulated by the Saudi minister at the start of the meeting.
As per the SPA, “during the meeting, they highlighted the strength and endurance of bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries, and discussed military and defence cooperation, as well as ways to support and enhance them. They also discussed the most significant regional and global issues of shared interest.
Later, the visiting Pakistani army chief and Saudi Defense Minister Khalid Bin Salman exchanged photos.
We discussed ways to deepen our collaboration as we evaluated our bilateral military and defence relations, highlighted the strategic alliance between our brotherly nations, and posted about it on Twitter.