Islamabad, 06 October 2011: President Asif Ali Zardari today conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Commander Royal Saudi Land Forces, during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr today.

 

The citation read of the occasion said that “in recognition of his consistent and valuable contributions in promoting relations and understanding between the two countries and armies, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to confer the award of Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) on His Royal Highness Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.”

 

Later, Prince Khalid Bin Bandar called on President along with his delegation.  The delegation included among others Maj Gen (Staff) Abdullah Bin Saleh Al Amry, Maj Gen (Staff) Fahad bin Abdullah Al Mutairi, Maj Gen (Staff) Saad bin Abdullah Al Qamy, Maj Gen Omer bin Mohammad al Sufyani, Maj Gen Pilot (Staff) Ahmed bin Abdurrehman Al Shehr, Saudi Ambassador Abdulaziz Bin Ibrahim Al Ghadir and other embassy officials.

 

From Pak side Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Defence, Secretary General to the President Mr. M. Salman Faruqui, Senator Dr. Babar Awan, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Defence Secretary Lt. Gen Ather Ali, Spokesperson to the President Mr. Farhatullah Babar and other senior officials participated in the meeting.

 

Matters relating to Pak-Saudi bilateral relations and mutual cooperation were discussed during the meeting.

 

The President during meeting said that the people and Government of Pakistan highly valued fraternal relations with Saudi Arabia demonstrated by the fact that the Saudi brethren have always stood by us in times of distress. He said that we highly admire  the sagacious leadership of King Abdullah and his abiding concern for the wellbeing of the Ummah.

 

He said that Pakistan was keen to further enhance cooperation with Saudi Arabia in all areas for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

 

The President said that the present bilateral trade volume is yet to fully reflect the depth and strength of existing relationship of the two countries and we need to expedite progress on setting up necessary framework in this regard.

 

The President highlighting the role of nearly 1.5 million Pakistani nationals in Saudi economy said that Pakistan was keen to further extend cooperation in human resource by offering skilled, semi-skilled and other workforce so that they could contribute their share in further development of Saudi Arabia.

 

Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud thanked the President for decorating him with Hilal-i-Imtiaz and said that Saudi people have also the same feelings of fraternity and love for their Pakistani brethren. He said Saudi people have great sympathies with the people of Pakistan who have been affected by the recent natural calamity.