Crown Prince Abdulaziz due on 15th

Source

By Syed Rashid Husain

RIYADH, April 3: Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz will make an official visit to Pakistan at the invitation of President Pervez Musharraf from April 15 to 16. The crown prince who is also the Minister for Defence and Aviation, will be leaving the kingdom on April 5 to visit Japan and Singapore, before landing in Islamabad on April 15.

Pakistani Ambassador Admiral (retd) Shahid Karimullah told Dawn on Monday that trade and economic ties would be the focus of the crown prince’s visit to Pakistan.

There are indications here that Saudi Arabia may start sending a larger number of students to Pakistan for professional courses and higher studies.

The crown prince’s three-nation tour is believed here to be an extension of the visits recently undertaken by King Abdullah to China, India, Malaysia and Pakistan. The royal visit is also a reflection of Saudi Arabia’s ‘Look East’ initiative.

Since the crown prince also holds the portfolio of defence the issue of enhancing ties in defence sector may also come up during talks between the two sides, informed sources here indicated. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are already discussing the sale of Al Khalid tank. Jane’s Defence Weekly recently said that the deal, once confirmed, could be of the order of $600 million, the single largest sale of defence equipment by Pakistan.

Hmm..I seriously doubt there was any avenue problem..means common yaar how nonsense it is to even believe that…there were other reason

President of Pakistan on Test Spot

Go,went, gone

Hey! Buzzy!..Stay away we are testing missile here:

Pakistan successfully test-fired a cruise missile
Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test-fired a cruise missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and hit targets within a 310-mile range, the army said.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf witnessed the firing, which took place at an undisclosed location inside Pakistan and was the second test of the Hatf VII cruise missile, also known as the Babur, an army statement said.

The initial test was conducted last August on Musharraf’s 62nd birthday.

“All phases of the planned trajectory were extremely successful and the missile impacted with pinpoint accuracy,” the statement said.

Pakistan’s nuclear-armed neighbor India was not given prior notice of the test as it did not fall under an accord that covers notification of ballistic missile tests, a senior security official said.

The Babur cruise missile can be fired from various platforms, including ground positions, surface ships and submarines, the army said.

The statement described it as a “low-flying, terrain-hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features.”

Musharraf was quoted as saying the firing demonstrated Pakistani proficiency in weapons production and that his government will “continue to provide all support to their endeavors in fortifying national defense.”

Ministry of defense seeks increase of Rs 61 Billion for Defence spending

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Defence has demanded an increase of Rs 61 billion in the defense budget to meet the needs of the armed forces and the National Assembly Special Committee working under The Public Accounts Committee has already supported the demand.

The Special Committee Meeting, which was held at the Parliament House on Friday under the leadership of Chairman Ch. Nisar Ali Khan, reviewed the expenditures of the M/o Defence for the year 1991-92.

Some officers from The Office of The Auditor General criticized that the finances provided to the welfare of the Army Officers should be audited but the practice is not always followed.

GHQ Senior Officers replied with the comment that the Army works under a particular discipline and they still need 11000 houses for the married army officers, but the lack of funds rule out the possibility.

The officers informed the Committee that India has increased its budget to 900 Billion Rupees but Pakistan’s Defence Budget has been the same since the past two years.

They said that 223 Billion Rupees have been allocated for the Defence Services while the Army needs 284 Billion Rupees for the purpose. They said that 61 Billion Rupees are still needed to fulfill their requirements. They said that the army is answerable to the Parliament and their morale is high inspite of the difficulties.

Chairman Ch Nisar Ali Khan said that the same rules apply for the army and other government ministries and every rupee drawn out of the State Treasury must be audited.

He assured that the Parliament recognize the problem of the army and they will raise the issue in the Public Accounts Committee. He said that the army needs to get stronger but there has been misuse of the finances in the army, just the way it happens in other Civil Services Offices, which is a condemnable act.

He said that even the President and the PM cannot allocate finances to any ministry without following proper rules and regulations. He assured that he will raise the issue of more allocation of funds to the army in the Public Accounts Committee and try to formulate a policy for the purpose.

ISLAMABAD, March 11(Online): The contract of infrastructure development of JF-17 (Thunder) aircraft has been awarded to M/S China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

In this regard, a contract signing ceremony was held at Air Headquarters on Friday. The contract has been awarded to M/S China State Construction Engineering Corporation, which is one of the leading Chinese construction companies. According to the co-development plan the contract was awarded by CATIC to CSCEC in the presence of the representatives from Aircraft Manufacturing Factory Kamra.

The ceremony was attended by Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Tanvir Mehmood Ahmed, Chief of the Air Staff (designate), Mr Mao Siwei Acting Chinese Ambassador, Air Marshal Aurangzeb Khan, Chairman Pakistan Aeronautical Complex Board Kamra, Air Vice Marshal Shahid Latif, Chief Project Director JF-17, Senior Colonel Li Mengyan Defence Attaché China and several other senior officials of both the sides.

According to the contract, CSCEC will construct state of the art infrastructure as per Chinese aviation standards. JF-17 Thunder is a co-design, co-development and co-production project between China and Pakistan. Production of this aircraft at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex will usher in new era of aviation technology in Pakistan and this aircraft will form the backbone of Pakistan Air Force. The aircraft is equipped with latest avionics and it will carry all types of weapons.