RIYADH, 27 August 2005 — Pakistan’s President Gen. Pervez Musharraf conferred the award of Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Military) on the Commander of the Royal Saudi Naval Forces Vice Adm. Prince Fahd ibn Abdullah at a special ceremony in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, the Pakistan Embassy here said.
“This is the highest peacetime award for meritorious services,” Pakistan’s Ambassador Retired Adm. Abdul Aziz Mirza told Arab News, adding that President Musharraf awarded the medal in recognition of Prince Fahd’s professional achievements and endeavors for strengthening friendship and cooperation between Royal Saudi Naval Forces and Pakistan Navy. “Vice Adm. Prince Fahd has played a prominent role in expanding the area of cooperation between the naval forces of the two countries.”
Prince Fahd is currently in Karachi leading a naval delegation at the invitation of his counterpart, Adm. Shahid Karimullah.
“Pakistani and Saudi Arabian armed forces enjoy close cooperation in military education, training and joint drills, “the envoy said.
The Kingdom is among several countries from the Middle East and the Gulf region that have shown keen interest in Pakistan’s domestically manufactured small submarines, known as “midgets”. The Saudi Air force is one of the potential buyers of a lightweight trainer aircraft, the Super Mushshak or Cessna, being manufactured by the country’s premier aeronautical complex, some 75 kilometers south of Karachi.
During talks, Prince Fahd and Zahid Hamid, Pakistan’s minister of state for defense, emphasized the need for greater cooperation between the two countries in defense. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the regular conduct of naval exercises “Nasim-ul-Bahr” which provided an opportunity to both the navies to understand each other and learn from each other’s experience. Both sides agreed that there existed a tremendous scope for enhancing training between the two naval forces. Last year, the naval exercise took place in Pakistani waters and this year it is scheduled in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi commander was given a detailed briefing on the Pakistan Navy’s organizational structure, its policy of fleet modernization and self-reliance in domestic manufacturing of surface and subsurface ships.
