10 September, 2017
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday visited Pakistan Air Force's (PAF) Mushaf Air Base in Sargodha and became the first Prime Minister to take part in a PAF excercise.
The aircraft flown by Wing Commander Yasir also bore PM Abbasi's name.
He was briefed on various contributions of the air force, especially during disaster management and relief operations, and told that the new facility was equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure. He lauded PAF's operational capabilities and comittment towards securing Pakistan's air space.
Besides training the PAF personnel, the institute would train the combat crew of friendly air forces by conducting multinational training exercises, Mr Abbasi was apprised.
He also visited newly established Airpower Center of Excellence (ACE) and attended a briefing on the ongoing exercise Saffron Bandit. On his arrival at the Base, he was received by Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, PAF chief of air staff. The first multinational exercise will be held in October in which personnel from over 19 air forces will participate. This city would mainly focus research and development initiatives with the help of industry academia linkage. The air chief, sitting in another F-16 aircraft also participated in the training mission.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was picked as interim PM last month by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) after Nawaz Sharif was forced to resign in July following the Supreme Court verdict in Panama Papers case. As a prime minister he got the opportunity and promptly availed it. He sworn in as 18 Prime Minister of Pakistan on August 1, 2017.
According to the PAF spokesperson, Abbasi took part in the exercise by sitting in an F-16 aircraft. "Saffron Bandit" is a combat exercise by PAF involving fighter jets and ground troops with elements from the Army Aviation and Army Air Defence.
