|
Politics
|
2006-11-22 03:16:29-05
|
Thai coup leader meets Pakistani president
|
|
|
Bangkok, Nov 22: Thai coup leader Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin met with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Nov. 21 and Pakastani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Nov. 22 while attending a defense exhibition in Pakistan, the Bangkok Post reported. Sonthi said he hopes to establish strong relations with Pakistan. The trip was Sonthi's first outside Thailand since the September coup. Gen Musharraf, who opened the exhibition, himself seized power in a coup in 1999 from the civilian administration of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and remains chief of Pakistan's powerful army. "I met the president yesterday (Tuesday) and with the prime minister today," Gen Sonthi, who arrived in Karachi on Tuesday, told reporters shortly after meeting Aziz at the exhibition. "I am very impressed with the exhibition. I am looking forward to having strong relations with Pakistan," he added. And "I am here not only to meet with the Pakistani leader but also to meet Thai students studying in Pakistan." Pakistan hosts the annual defense exhibition to showcase its military hardware and promote arms sales that earned the country $100 million last year, according to officials. The participants of the exhibition include companies from the United States, France, Germany, China and Turkey. Organisers said this year's theme was "Arms for Peace". Pakistan is hoping to secure sale contracts for its own versions of the Russian T59 tank the JF-7 Thunder fighter aircraft, jointly manufactured with China.
|
