COAS Bajwa meets Saudi military chief during visit to kingdom

Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa held a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s top military official, General Fayyad bin Hamid Al-Ruwaili during his visit to Riyadh during which matters related to military exchanges and training were discussed, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

“COAS also met Lieutenant General (Staff) Fahad bin Turki Al Saud, Commander Joint Forces, the ISPR said, adding, "military to military ties including training exchanges were [the] focus of the meetings."

"Gen Bajwa was received by Saudi Arabia's Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces General Fayyad Al-Ruwaili upon his arrival at the defence ministry," the military’s media wing said.

"During the meeting, prospects for military cooperation and ways to support and boost it were reviewed, in addition to matters of common concern," the Saudi government said in a separate statement.

The army chief is accompanied by Director-General Inter-Servies Intelligence Lt Gen Faiz Hameed.

Gen Bajwa had arrived in the kingdom earlier in the day on his official visit.

Earlier, DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had confirmed to Reuters that the army chief was travelling to Saudi Arabia, saying that the visit was pre-planned and "primarily military affairs oriented."