Germany, Pakistan for exploring new avenues of cooperation

RAWALPINDI: Vice Chief of Defence at the Federal Ministry of Defence Germany, Vice Admiral Joachim Ruhle Thursday called on Secretary Defence, Lt Gen (Retd) Zamir-ul-Hassan Shah here at Ministry of Defence.

The secretary defence briefed the visiting dignitary about the achievements of armed forces of Pakistan in securing the border areas with Afghanistan through operation Zarb-e-Azb and the ongoing Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad under the National Action Plan, a press release said.

He dilated in detail on the various contours of multi-pronged strategy adopted by Pakistan in the war against terrorism and extremism.

The unprecedented sacrifices of men and material in ongoing war on terror coupled with Pakistan’s support to the world community through GLOCs, ALOCs including the economic and social costs of hosting of more than three million Afghan refugees were also highlighted.

The visiting dignitary was also briefed about the importance of peaceful Afghanistan for Pakistan and the role being played by Pakistan in finding durable peace in Afghanistan. The role of India inside Afghanistan and the intransigent stance of India in the context of Pak-India bilateral relations was also discussed.

Joachim Ruhle appreciated the professionalism of armed forces of Pakistan and informed that his visit was focused on the revitalization of existing defence cooperation between the two countries.

Both sides agreed to explore new avenues of cooperation to further diversify and strengthen their bilateral defence relations.