Two cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with differential salinity tolerance were compared by evaluating the growth attributes, pigment composition and accumulation of Na+, K+, Zn2+, Fe 2+, Mn 2+ and proline. Wheat cultivars Al-Moiaya (AM) (salt tolerant) and Habbe-Druma (HD) (salt sensitive) were subjected to four levels of salinity (1.21 dS m−1, 4.4 dS m−1, 8.8 dS m−1 and 13.2 dS m−1) in factorial combinations with three drought stress (FC 30%, FC 60% and FC 90%) treatments in a randomized complete block design. Plant dry weight, leaf area ratio (LAR), soluble protein and total chlorophyll (Chl) content were higher in AM than HD. Salt-tolerant AM maintains a higher K+/ Na+ ratio and thereby is able to grow better than the salt-sensitive HD under both the stresses. The lower foliar Na+ in AM resulted in retention of higher Chl content, reflected in the strong positive correlations between plant ion status and Chl contents (Na+-Chl r2 = 0.83; Chl- Fe2+ r2 = 0.76; Zn2+ r2 = 0.93 and Mn2+ r2 = 0.88). In conclusion, our results suggested that the K+/Na+ ratio, exclusion of Na+ and ion homeostasis play much more important roles in the tolerance to salinity and drought stress than the compatible osmolyte, proline.