RIYADH – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi attended the closing ceremonyof Gulf Shield-1 joint military exercise at Damam in Saudi Arabia onMonday.

The month long exercise Gulf Shield-1 was participated by troops from 24countries and was aimed at strengthening “military and security cooperationand coordination” among the regional countries.

The Prime Minister has attended the exercises on the special invitation ofKing Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

Minister for Defense Khurram Dastgir Khan and Chief of the Army StaffGeneral Qamar Javed Bajwa also accompanied the prime minister.

Troops of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force C-130 aircraft, JF-17Thunder Fighter jets, Pakistan Navy ships, and commandos from SpecialServices Group also participated in the exercise.

According to spokesman for Joint Gulf Shield-1, Brig Gen AbdullahAl-Subaie, the exercise featured two types of military operations;conventional military operations that involved coastal defense attacksagainst the enemy, besides the irregular war operations carried out bybesieging and penetrating villages and industrial installations to cleansethem of hostile elements.

The exercise also displayed military uniformity among the participatingcountries, in addition to the development of a sense of collectivesecurity, unity and common destiny.

The closing ceremony was attended among others by Saudi King Salman, CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salman and Arab leaders including Mohammed bin Zayedbin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Egyptian PresidentAdulfattah el-Sisi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Presidentand Prime Minister of the UAE, and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, and KingAbdullah II of Jordan, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina Wajid.