ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is celebrating the Saudi National Day today, Tuesday, with greater zeal after both countries signed a landmark defense agreement this month, official said, reaffirming their commitment to further strengthening their brotherly ties and expanding cooperation across every sphere.
The Saudi National Day is celebrated each year on September 23 to commemorate the proclamation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 by King Abdulaziz. This year, it comes days after Pakistan and the Kingdom signed a ‘Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement.’
Under the pact signed in Riyadh, aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both. The deal, sealed during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s state visit to the Kingdom this month, is meant to enhance joint deterrence and deepen decades of military and security cooperation.
To mark the Saudi National Day, Pakistan’s capital Islamabad has been decorated with Saudi flags and pictures of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, with buildings adorned with green lights symbolizing the color of the Saudi flag.
“Every single time, whether it was economic hardship, or if there was any kind of defense-related situation, we always found the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] by our side and every single time, any issue, if Saudi [Arabia] needed support of Pakistan on any issue, whether it be foreign policy or any other issue, we have been by their side,” Musadik Malik, Pakistan’s climate change minister who is also the focal person for Pakistan-Saudi Arabia bilateral collaboration, told Arab News, explaining the depth of their bilateral ties.
