Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Defense, receives Gerard Longuet, his French counterpart, in Riyadh, Saturday. — SPARIYADH — Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Defense, Saturday held talks with Gerard Longuet, his French counterpart. The talks centered on bolstering ties between their ministries, SPA state news agency reported. The meeting focused on “strengthening bilateral relations and existing partnerships between the defense ministries” of the two countries, Prince Salman said. He lauded “solid relations between the two countries (which) go back to 1926, based on common interests.” “We highly appreciate Saudi-French identical viewpoints on several regional and international issues,” he added. Longuet commended the Kingdom for its stability which enables it to play a global “vital role”, stressing Paris' keenness to strengthen its partnership with the Kingdom in various fields. The talks were attended by Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, Deputy Minister of Defense; Chief of General Staff Gen. Hussein Bin Abdullah Al-Qabil; Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Bin Saleh Al-Bunyan, Director General of the Office of Minister of Defense; Air Vice Marshall Abdullah Al-Suhaibani, Saudi Military Attaché in France; and Bertrand Besancenot, French Ambassador to the Kingdom. Last month, French defense group Nexter announced receiving a Saudi order for 73 Aravis armored vehicles, in the first successful deal for the product outside France.
