Pak-Saudi military ties to grow

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia is not interested in building military ties with India at the cost of Pakistan, authoritative sources have revealed.
This was made clear in top-level Saudi contacts with the Pakistan military and government officials recently.
Sources said that a person not less than the Saudi defence minister had contacted the senior military leadership at the GHQ and unequivocally informed it “Modi or no Modi, the kingdom was committed to maintaining the same level of deep military ties with Islamabad as enjoyed by the two countries during the last several decades.” It was also conveyed that the much hyped Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the Middle East was an issue the Saudi government was not much concerned about. As far as Riyadh is concerned, Pakistan still has the same important status for the kingdom like before.
Sources at the Foreign Office also unofficially confirmed that Saudi officials had as well contacted top government officials and conveyed the same message.
Sources said that despite some differences over the Yemen campaign, Islamabad and Riyadh’s ties will continue to grow. “Few people have the idea how deep cultural, religious, political, commercial and strategic relations between the two countries are,” said the sources, who reminded that Pakistan was committed to the most “important and bilateral partnership” between the two countries and geographical integrity of the Saudi borders. — Waqar Ahmed