President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) on Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Commander Royal Saudi Land Forces, during a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
The citation read on the occasion said, "in recognition of his consistent and valuable contributions in promoting relations and understanding between the two countries and armies, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to confer the award of Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) on His Royal Highness Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud."
Later, Prince Khalid Bin Bandar called on President along with his delegation. The delegation included among others Major General (Staff) Abdullah Bin Saleh Al Amry, Major General (Staff) Fahad bin Abdullah Al Mutairi, Major General (Staff) Saad bin Abdullah Al Qamy, Major General Omer bin Mohammad al Sufyani, Major General Pilot (Staff) Ahmed bin Abdurrehman Al Shehr, Saudi Ambassador Abdulaziz Bin Ibrahim Al Ghadir and other embassy officials.
From Pak side Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Federal Minister for Defence, Secretary General to the President M. Salman Faruqui, Senator Dr Babar Awan, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Defence Secretary Lieutenant General Ather Ali, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar and other senior officials attended in the meeting.
Prince Lieutenant General (Staff) Khalid Bin Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud thanked the president for decorating him with Hilal-i-Imtiaz and said that Saudi people have also the same feelings of fraternity and love for their Pakistani brethren. He said Saudi people have great sympathies with the people of Pakistan who have been affected by the recent natural calamity.-PR