Gen. Bajwa holds security talks with Saudi deputy defense minister, lauds Kingdom’s role in OIC on Kashmir ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa’s visit to Saudi Arabia was a testament to the enduring strong relations between the two countries, the Pakistani Foreign Office said on Thursday. Bajwa visited Riyadh earlier this week and met with Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman to discuss security cooperation. The Pakistani army described the general’s trip as being “primarily military affairs oriented.” “The long-term strategic relationship between the two brotherly countries is time-tested and will continue to grow to our mutual benefit,” Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri told a press briefing in Islamabad, adding that the visit was evidence of “the unchanged fraternal relations and close contact” between the nations. Chaudhri said the OIC had played an important role in the Kashmir dispute and had deputed a special envoy and set up a contact group specifically to deal with the issue. The Himalayan region has been at the heart of tensions between Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan for decades, being the cause of two of three wars between the nuclear-armed neighbors. Both countries claim the region in full, but each administers only in part. On Aug. 5 last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi split the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two federally controlled territories and took away its special privileges, sparking outrage from Pakistan. “The contact group on Jammu and Kashmir has held four meetings so far on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir since India’s illegal actions of Aug. 5, 2019 and three of those meetings were held at the level of foreign ministers. Pakistan commended Saudi Arabia’s important role in the OIC contact group on Jammu and Kashmir,” Chaudhri said. On relations with Saudi Arabia, he added that the two countries had “strong” economic, political, security, and military cooperation at all levels. “The relations between the two brotherly countries have continued to grow over time. The long-term strategic relationship is time-tested and will continue to grow for our mutual benefit.” He pointed out that the ties had been consolidated by last year’s visits to Saudi Arabia by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the trip by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Pakistan in February 2019. On the current situation in the Middle East and the deal to normalize relations between Israel and the UAE, Chaudhri said the recognition of Israel by Pakistan was not under consideration. “Peace and stability in the Middle East region remain Pakistan’s key priority. There is no change in Pakistan’s position on Palestine,” he added.