Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, who is currently on a visit to the United States, met with US Defense Secretary Ash Carter at the Pentagon in Washington on Thursday night. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations as well as the existing military cooperation between the two countries and means to further strengthen them, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The two leaders reviewed the latest developments in the Middle East region, and the endeavors being exerted to combat terrorism. Their talks also figured other issues of common interest. Meanwhile, Frances Townsend, who was Homeland Security Advisor to former US President George W. Bush, welcomed the visit of Deputy Crown Prince to the United States. In a statement to SPA, she said that the visit of the Deputy Crown Prince clearly confirms Saudi Arabia's interest to continue long-term strategic relations with the US. "Prince Muhammad's meetings on Wednesday with Speaker of the US House of Representatives Paul Ryan and Congress members as well as with prominent American business leaders, underscore the Kingdom's strong position of relations with US. The US leaders have also shown interest to know more about Vision 2030 and its massive development programs like the National Transformation Program," she said, and praised the Deputy Crown Prince for his keen interest in supporting Saudis studying in US. On his part, Salman Al-Ansari, founder and chairman of the Saudi-American Public Relations Affairs Committee (SAPRAC), said that the current visit of the Deputy Crown Prince will further bolster the strong relations between the Kingdom and US, which are based on solid historical foundations that have evolved as an outcome of the meetings of the leaders of the two countries over eight decades ago. In a press statement to SPA, he said that the Deputy Crown Prince has taken the Saudi–US relations to a new phase of quantum leap in all sectors. Al-Ansari pointed out that this important relationship continues growing through the era of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman.
