Pakistan Navy ship "PNS ASLAT" that is on a goodwill-cum-training visit to Saudi Arabia, held a dinner reception at the ship here in Jeddah yesterday. The ship is on maritime deployment for counter terrorism and counter piracy petrol in Arabian Sea, Red sea and Gulf of Aden and is on a goodwill visit to Jeddah port for 4-days, says a press release received from Jeddah here today. Welcoming on board, the Ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Ghulam Akbar Shah Bukhari highlighted the strategic importance of relations between Pakistan and Royal Saudi navy. He said that both countries enjoyed cordial ties and the navies of the both the countries have held a number of joint training and exercises including the 'Naseem-ul-Bahr' joint naval exercise. Some 25 crew members are also undergoing training at Royal Saudi Naval Force (RSNF) academy, he told. The Commanding officer told that the ship recently conducted a successful anti-narcotic operation and confiscated 5000kg hashish on 7th February in a maritime search and seizure operation. Captain Bukhari shed light on PNS ASLAT that derives its name from an Arabic word denoting a type of sword used by the Arabs during the early days of Islam. PNS ASLAT was recently commissioned in Pakistan Navy on April 17, 2013 and is equipped with state of the art Combat Management system, torpedoes and missiles. PNS ASLAT is the fourth ship of Sword Class Frigates that was indigenously laid in Karachi Shipyard & Engineering works. The function was attended by a number of foreign diplomats based in Jeddah, high ranking Saudi Navy officials and Officials of the Consulate General of Pakistan, and Pakistani expatriate community members. Earlier Captain Bukhari paid a call on visit to the Saudi Western Region Fleet commander, Rear Admiral Abdullah bin Mutlaq and a number of Saudi Naval high ranking officials in Jeddah. ***** ?
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