SAUDI TAKES DOWN PHOTO OF ‘PLANE ATTACK’ ON CANADA

RIYADH:SAUDI Arabia’s diplomatic spat with Canada prompted a tweet that touched a raw nerve in the kingdom: a photomontage of an Air Canada plane heading toward the iconic CN Tower in Toronto.

The Saudi Ministry of Media ordered the Twitter account of the Infographic KSA youth group that posted the photo shut down, apparently unamused by its invocation of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

The photo’s English-language caption read: “Sticking one’s nose where it doesn’t belong! As the Arabic saying goes: He who intervenes with what doesn’t concern him finds what doesn’t please him.”

The Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing sources, that Saudi Arabia is selling Canadian assets.

The Saudi central bank and state pension funds have instructed their overseas asset managers to dispose of their Canadian equities, bonds and cash holdings “no matter the cost”, according to the report.

The sell-off began on Tuesday and underlines how the Saudi government is flexing its financial and political muscle to warn foreign powers against what it regards as interference in its sovereign affairs, the newspaper said. Saudi Arabia froze new trade and investment with Canada and expelled the Canadian ambassador this week, in an escalating row after Ottawa urged the country to free rights activists. ISLAMABAD : Pakistan and Russia have signed an agreement for training of Pakistani troops at Russian military training institutes, a move that could increase worries in New Delhi over the burgeoning military cooperation between Islamabad and Moscow.

“Both countries signed the Contract on Admission of Service Members of Pakistan in RF’S (Russian Federation) Training Institutes,” the Dawn newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing a statement from Pakistan’s defence ministry.

The pact was signed at the conclusion of the first meeting of the Russia-pakistan Joint Military Consultative Committee (JMCC), described by the defence ministry as the highest forum for defence collaboration between the two sides. Earlier this year, the two sides had agreed to set up the commission during then foreign minister Khawaja Asif’s visit to Moscow. The agreement on training follows the sale of four Russian Mi-35 gunship helicopters to Pakistan in 2016 and the holding of the Druzva (Friendship) joint military exercise over the past two years.

Deputy defence minister Col Gen Alexander Fomin led the Russian side at the talks in Islamabad while defence secretary Lt Gen (retired) Zamirul Hassan Shah headed the Pakistani team. During the talks, the two sides reviewed progress in cooperation since they signed a defence cooperation pact in November 2014.

Pakistan and Russia signed a military-technical cooperation accord in October 2015 for arms supplies and cooperation in weapons development.

“A comprehensive issue-based review was also carried out during which the two countries expressed satisfaction on the milestones achieved,” the defence ministry said.