WASHINGTON: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif’s three-day visit to Brazil focused on strengthen military ties between the two countries, says a statement sent to Dawn by the Brazilian Ministry of Defence.

The two countries already have an agreement for cooperation in training and exchange of experiences between their armed forces.

“We want to intensify our cooperation with Brazil,” Gen Sharif said during his visit to the Brazilian Defence Ministry.

Brazilian Defence Minister Aldo Rebelo welcomed him to the ministry and reiterated the importance of having a defence relationship that takes into account the particular characteristics of each country, such as size, geographical location, population and geopolitical situation.

“Here, we have more than 17,000 square kilometres of borders, seven thousand square kilometres of coastline, many waters under our jurisdiction and a very large airspace, which gives us many obligations and responsibilities. And we have to cooperate in light of these challenges, “he said.

After the meeting, General Sharif invited the defence minister to visit Pakistan to see the defence works undertaken in his country.

Gen Raheel Sharif met Chief of the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Brazil Gen José Carlos de Nardi.

In a series of tweets, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa said that Gen Raheel was presented a guard of honour and a 19-gun salute on his arrival at the Brazil Army headquarters.

Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif arrived in Brazil on Monday after a five-day visit to Washington last week. From Brazil, he will go to Ivory Coast to spend a day with Pakistani troops working for the UN peace keeping force.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015