Pak General Munir on official visit to Saudi, UAE for bilateral talks

Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], January 05 (ANI): The current Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) Pakistan General Syed Asim Munir is on an official visit to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), Geo News reported citing Pakistan’s military media wing announcement.

The six-day-long visit of General Munir will end on January 10. This is Munir’s first official trip outside Pakistan since he assumed his command in the Pakistan Army. The Pakistan general will meet senior leaders from both nations during his visit, discussing mutual interest and military cooperation, according to the Geo News report. The Geo News quoted Saudi Press Agency (SPA) which also announced the visit saying, the COAS met with Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman in Riyadh.

“During the meeting, they emphasised the strength and durability of bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries, and discussed military and defence cooperation, and ways to support and enhance them, in addition to discussing the most important regional and international issues of common interest,” the SPA said in a statement.

Notably, this visit may impact the country’s defence especially when in December last year Amid the significant rise in militancy in the country, the Pakistan army promised to continue its “fight against terrorists without any distinction.” The resolve was made during the Corps Commanders Conference held at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi which presided over Munir.

“CCC held @ GHQ. General Syed Asim Munir, COAS presided. A comprehensive review of the professional and organisational matters of the Army was undertaken. It was resolved to fight against terrorists without any distinction and eliminate this menace as per aspirations of people of Pakistan,” the spokesperson Pakistan Armed Forces said in a tweet. On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces remained under the grip of fear as Pakistan suffered close to 376 terror attacks the previous year.

The report claimed that the majority of the attacks were carried out by banned terror outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Daish (Islamic State Khorasan) and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province had an exponential surge in violence, with a corresponding rise in fatalities. Government officials, law enforcement officers, and civilians made up the majority of the victims of violence. According to the study, there were several foreigners among the civilian population.

According to the Center, after November 28 there was a notable uptick in terrorist assaults in KP and Balochistan, with over twenty strikes occurring in only the month of December. According to the same report, this increased the number of fatalities in the province (including ex-FATA) to roughly 64 per cent of all fatalities in the nation. Balochistan was next with 26 per cent of deaths allegedly attributable to terrorism.