A delegation of Qatar Armed Forces led by the Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Ghanim bin Shaheen al-Ghanim, was in Rwanda on a two-day visit which ended on Tuesday, Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence Force said in a statement.
The two countries’ Armed Forces are seeking to explore and strengthen areas of mutual defence and military cooperation, according to the statement released on Tuesday.
According to the defence ministry, the Qatari general met his counterpart, Chief of Defence Staff of Rwanda Defence Force, Gen. Jean Bosco Kazura on Monday and the two held a meeting to review areas of their future cooperation.
The Qatari military delegation also paid a courtesy call on defence minister Maj Gen Albert Murasira on Tuesday with whom they had "fruitful discussions” of common interest.
The Qatari military chief is quoted in the statement saying that there are many areas of common interest which can be the focus of future cooperation.
"We will establish joint technical teams with different specialties (to explore areas of cooperation) and they will need to work together and we want results in the near future,” he noted.
During his stay in Rwanda, Gen Ghanim also paid respect to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, at Kigali Genocide Memorial, and toured the Campaign Against Genocide Museum.
Shaheen al-Ghanim’s visit comes a few weeks after the visit of the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was in Rwanda to attend the International ‘Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE Award).’
During the same visit, the Emir of Qatar, together with President Paul Kagame and other leaders, unveiled a new anti-corruption monument in Kigali, which showcases the two countries’ efforts in fighting graft.
Also, last year, Qatar Airways and the Government signed three agreements that saw the two parties set up a joint venture to build, own, and operate the proposed international airport in Bugesera District.
The first phase of the airport, which will be completed in 2022, will give it capacity to accommodate over seven million passengers annually while the second phase will see this capacity double.