At
the invitation of His Majesty, King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Custodian of the Two
Holy Mosques, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan, along
with a five-member delegation, participated in the First Meeting of the Defense
Ministers of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) on 26
November 2017 in Riyadh. The meeting was chaired by His Royal Highness, Crown
Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, says a press release received here today from
Riyadh.
In
the meeting, the Defense Minister acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of
the Saudi leadership in building partnerships to counter the scourge of
terrorism and extremism. He outlined Pakistan’s key role in the global fight
against terrorism and highlighted the continued resolve of Pakistan despite
huge human and financial losses. The Defense Minister showcased Pakistan’s
successful counterterrorism operations and the comprehensive National Action
Plan to counter terrorism to the participating delegations, underlining the
expertise and experience of the country in this field. He said that Pakistan
was ready to share its experience and capabilities in all four main domains of
counter-terrorism i.e. intellectual, information, counter-financing of
terrorism and military, through the forum of the IMCTC, which aimed at
enhancing the ability of its member states to counter the scourge of terrorism
and extremism, upon their request.
Reaffirming
Pakistan’s historical and fraternal relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
the Defense Minister assured Saudi Arabia and the participating countries, of
its support and cooperation within the mutually agreed framework of the IMCTC.
The
IMCTC – a 34 member Coalition of Islamic countries - was launched in December
2015 at the initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since then, seven more
Islamic countries have joined the Coalition. In acknowledgment of Pakistan’s
leading role in the global fight against terrorism, Pakistan’s former Chief of
Army Staff, General (Retd) Raheel Shareef was appointed as Commander-in Chief
in March 2017.
