Pak Navy hosts community dinner aboard ship
Guests attend the cake cutting ceremony with commanding officer of PNS Alamgir Capt. Abdul Muneeb and Consul General Aftab Khokher. — SG photo
Syed Mussarat Khalil
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH - The Pakistan Navy ship PNS Alamgir hosted a community dinner on board while it was docked at the Jeddah Islamic Port on Tuesday night.
The event marked the first time a Pakistani navy ship visiting Saudi Arabia on a goodwill-cum-training mission hosted a community dinner.
Consuls general of India, Kuwait, Algeria, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and China, representatives of various consulates, officers of Royal Saudi Naval forces, air and Ibrahim Asad, naval attaché at the Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh, media persons and a large number of Pakistani families attended the dinner.
The dinner commenced with recitations of the national anthems of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan respectively. A cake cutting ceremony was later held and dinner was specially prepared by the ship’s chefs.
While welcoming guests on board, commanding officer of the ship Capt. Abdul Muneeb said, “Your presence here is a source of honor and encouragement for us.”
He added that PNS Alamgir is the first Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates acquired by the Pakistan Navy from the United States. The ship is equipped with modern weapons and sensors and is capable of performing a wide range of maritime operations.
PNS Alamgir has been on a joint counter-piracy and coalition maritime complaint deployment under the ambit of CTF-151 and CTF-150 since January of this year.
“We are happy to be in the port of our brotherly Muslim country for a 3-day visit. We have been hosted here very well and we truly feel at home here. On behalf of my fellow officers and men, I am thankful to the Royal Navel Force for the hospitality and warm gestures extended to us. Pakistan’s relations with Saudi Arabia are deep-rooted on sound basis of religious and cultural affiliates.
The visit of PNS Alamgir is a manifestation of our relations. I am very confident that the brotherly relations of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will grow further and strengthen manifolds in the future,” he was quoted as saying.
Pakistani Consul General Aftab Khokher said the visit was a symbol of friendship between the Kingdom and Pakistan.
“This is fourth ship I have received during my one year stay in the Kingdom, something which shows the closeness between the two navies, countries and peoples. This relationship has been further deepened during the recent visit of Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz, second deputy prime minister and minister of defense, to Pakistan. This visit again indicates that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are one family,” he said while expressing his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the Saudi government and royal family for hosting PNS Alamgir.
