In a first, troops from China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey march at Pak Day

Chinese, Saudi and Turkish troops for the first time joined the Pakistan Day parade in the capital Islamabad on Thursday, in a sign of deepening ties.

Before Pakistan showed off long-range rockets, tanks and other military hardware, armed Chinese troops marched past Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan’s army chief.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain said it was the first time Chinese troops participated in a parade in a foreign country, terming it a “historic event”, with the two countries embarking on building vast infrastructure together.

Soldiers from Saudi Arabia, a long-time Pakistan ally, also joined the parade, as did a military band from Turkey, which strengthened ties with Pakistan in recent years.

Islamabad considers China an “all-weather friend” and in recent years the countries have grown even closer on the back of the $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a Beijing-funded network of road, rail and pipelines that will link western China with Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.

The militaries of the two countries have in recent years also increased cooperation.REUTERS