Naravane on Wednesday spoke to Lt Gen Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, the Commander of Royal Saudi Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, focusing on various aspects of bilateral defence cooperation

NEW DELHI: Chief of Army Staff Gen MM Naravane on Wednesday spoke to Lt Gen Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, the Commander of Royal Saudi Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, focusing on ways to deepen bilateral military ties.

The Army said various aspects of bilateral defence cooperation figured in the talks. "General MM Naravane #COAS had telephonic interaction with Lieutenant General Fahd Bin Abdullah Mohammed Al-Mutair, Commander, Royal Saudi Armed Forces, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and discussed aspects of bilateral Defence Cooperation," the Army tweeted.

Gen Naravane had held a telephonic conversation with Lt Gen Al-Mutair in December as well.

Defence and security ties between India and Saudi Arabia have been on an upswing in the last few years. The Chief of Army Staff visited Saudi Arabia in December 2020 in the first-ever visit by a head of the 1.3 million-strong Army to the strategically important Gulf nation.