A Pakistan army contingent will be stationed in Saudi Arabia on a “training and advisory mission”, a press release from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.
The announcement followed a meeting between Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador, Nawaf Saeed Al-Maliki, and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier today at General Headquarters Rawalpindi.
During their meeting, Gen Bajwa and Al-Maliki discussed matters of “mutual interest”, including the regional security situation, the ISPR press statement said.
The contingent will join Pakistani troops that are already stationed in Saudi Arabia and “will not be deployed outside the Kingdom”, the statement read.
Pakistan already has around 1,180 troops in Saudi Arabia under a 1982 bilateral agreement. The deployed troops are mostly serving in training and advisory roles, according to a report.
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia share strong military ties. Pakistan is one of the 41 members of the Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) that is being headed by a former army chief, the retired Gen Raheel Sharif. The military alliance was formally launched by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman last year.
