Top Pakistani general discusses enhancing defense, security ties with Turkish, Azeri officials
Islamabad has grown closer to Ankara and Baku after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev openly pledged support for Pakistan during its latest military confrontation with India in May.
Mirza, who is the chairman of joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC) of the Pakistan Army, was attending the 17th International Defense Industry Fair in Istanbul, renowned for showcasing cutting-edge innovations and advancements in the defense sector.
The Pakistani general held separate meetings with General (retired) Yasar Guler, Turkiye's minister of national defense, Col. General Hasanov Zakir Asgar Oglu, Azerbaijan's minister of defense, Gurbanov Agil Salim Oglu, Azerbaijan's deputy minister of defense and General Metin Gurak, the chief of Turkish general staff.
'Discussions were held on variety of issues of bilateral military cooperation with emphasis on importance of expanding cooperation in the fields of defense and security,' the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, said in a statement.
'The dignitaries reaffirmed their shared commitment to deepening strategic partnerships and enhancing defense corporation in line with dictates of future geo-strategic environment and technological advancements.'
The Turkish and Azeri officials reaffirmed their commitment to deepen strategic partnerships and enhance defense cooperation, keeping in mind the future geo-strategic environment and technological advancements, the ISPR added.
Earlier this month, Turkiye's defense and foreign ministers arrived in Pakistan for a series of high-level meetings that reportedly focused on counterterrorism, defense cooperation and broader strategic ties.
Pakistan and Turkiye have maintained close defense ties in recent years.
Under a 2018 agreement, Türkiye is delivering four MILGEM-class corvettes to the Pakistan Navy, with two built in Istanbul and two at Karachi Shipyard under a technology transfer arrangement.
The first vessel, PNS Babur, was delivered in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
For the sake of peace, America should recognize Palestine
After an unexpected delay due to Israel's unprovoked attack on Iran last month, the UN will finally convene a crucial high-level meeting in New York this week. Scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at the foreign minister level, the meeting aims to discuss the long-promised but still unrealized political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the two-state solution. The idea is not new. It envisions two states — Israel and Palestine — living side by side in peace. While Israel has been recognized by the global community, including Arab nations and the Palestinians themselves, the state of Palestine still lacks full recognition by the UN Security Council. That recognition is a necessary step before Palestine can be admitted as a full UN member. Three permanent members of the UNSC — France, the UK and the US — have so far blocked that recognition. But change is coming. President Emmanuel Macron, whose government is co-chairing the UN conference with Saudi Arabia, has announced that France will recognize Palestine when the UN General Assembly meets this fall. The UK has expressed similar intentions, conditioned on there being a 'wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution.' Without a political horizon for Palestinians and a realistic long-term solution, we will only be kicking the can down the road. Both France and the UK understand the urgent need for an end to the Israeli revenge war on Gaza, accomplishing the release of detainees on both sides, followed immediately by an urgent effort to carry out the more important challenge of finding a political solution. Before the end of September, it is expected that 150 of the UN's 193 member states will have recognized the state of Palestine on the June 4, 1967, borders. This leaves the US as the lone major holdout. Leaders from both major American political parties, including President Donald Trump, have supported the idea of a two-state solution. Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, despite his staunch support for Israel, even visited Ramallah last year and met with senior Palestinian leader Hussein Al-Sheikh. Yet, paradoxically, the US has announced that it does not plan to attend the UN meeting on the two-state solution. The reasons remain unclear. One possibility is that Washington is reacting to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiery rhetoric. After Macron's announcement, Netanyahu claimed that recognizing Palestine would endanger Israeli security. 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel,' he said. 'Let's be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.' Nothing could be further from the truth. If any side is attempting to negate the other, it is Israel seeking to erase Palestine, not the other way round. The current Palestinian leadership, based in Ramallah and led by President Mahmoud Abbas, has consistently opposed the Oct. 7 attacks and Hamas' militaristic approach. This leadership favors diplomacy and has long supported the two-state vision, as outlined in the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence. That declaration explicitly envisioned a Palestinian state next to Israel. If any side is attempting to negate the other, it is Israel seeking to erase Palestine, not the other way round. Daoud Kuttab It is important to recall that Netanyahu himself has historically enabled Hamas, seeing it as a tool to divide and weaken the secular Palestinian national movement. The world now recognizes this cynical strategy for what it is. But Western leaders too often ignore this reality. Recognition of Palestine at the UN is not a 'reward for terror.' It is a recognition of an inalienable right: the right of self-determination. That principle is foundational to the very idea of the UN and the international order it represents. If Washington continues to pay lip service to a two-state solution while boycotting discussions intended to realize it, the implications will be stark. The current position suggests that American leaders — whether consciously or not — are aligning themselves with a vision of Jewish supremacy in the Middle East. That is a dangerous path. It will only prolong the conflict and isolate the US from the global consensus, which is increasingly united against apartheid, occupation and permanent discrimination. Palestinians and Israelis have two — and only two — realistic options: two states for two peoples or one democratic state with equal rights for all. All other ideas mean that America (and any other holdouts on Palestinian recognition) support apartheid by not opposing the current situation. As leading Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem stated in a report back in 2011, Israel has been conducting 'a regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid.' In 1948, Israel expelled 750,000 Palestinians and has refused to allow them to return ever since. Many of those refugees ended up in Gaza and we have seen what the absence of justice for Palestinians has produced. Continuing on this path of ignoring the Palestinian reality and denying the political rights of Palestinians under whatever religious or domestic political consideration will never work. Neither will the fantasy of permanently expelling or suppressing the 7 million Palestinians living between the river and the sea ever succeed. On May 15, 1948, within minutes of its declaration as a state, the US recognized Israel. It is high time that America recognized the other half of the two-state solution. The sooner Washington genuinely embraces the two-state solution and joins the world in recognizing the state of Palestine — including the principle of it being an independent, democratic nation living peacefully alongside Israel — the sooner peace in the Middle East can become a reality.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan, China discuss progress of CPEC projects, connectivity with Central Asia
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has met China's Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong and discussed progress of ongoing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and linking the corridor with Central Asian states for greater regional connectivity and economic stability, Pakistan's Press Information Department (PID) said on Sunday. Since 2013, Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan as part of CPEC, a major segment of China's Belt and Road Initiative that aims to build land and maritime trade routes linking Asia with Africa and Europe. In May, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to the expansion of CPEC to Afghanistan after the recent trilateral meeting in Beijing, while Pakistani and Chinese leaders have invited Central Asian republics in recent years to join CPEC to enhance regional connectivity and economic cooperation. At the meeting in Islamabad, both Pakistani and Chinese officials discussed the progress of ongoing CPEC projects and preparations for the upcoming Pakistan-China Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting, where key decisions are expected to be made. 'Connecting CPEC to Central Asian states will contribute to regional economic stability and economic cooperation,' Iqbal said as he reiterated his government's commitment to ensuring security of CPEC projects, according to PID. Despite massive Chinese investments, Pakistan has struggled to keep up its financial obligations regarding CPEC, while the undertaking has also been hit by militant attacks in recent years. Iqbal previously said the two sides will hold the JCC meeting at the end of July, at which they will approve roadmap for CPEC's Phase 2. The next phase would be based on five corridors, relating to growth, innovation, livelihoods, green energy, and open and inclusive development in the region, he told reporters at a briefing in Islamabad last month. Speaking at Sunday's meeting, he said the development of Gwadar port, which lies at the heart of CPEC in Pakistan's Balochistan, and Special Economic Zones was top priority of his government. 'The government is committed to fully capitalizing on the port's trade potential,' he said. During the meeting, Ambassador Jiang reaffirmed China's commitment to supporting Pakistan's development efforts, according to PID. 'He assured that bilateral cooperation will continue to expand in the coming years,' it said.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Chinese firm eyes investment in Pakistan's ICT, new energy sectors — ministry
ISLAMABAD: GuoDong Group, a leading Chinese communications firm, has expressed 'strong interest' in investment in Pakistan's information and communication technology (ICT) and new energy sectors, the Pakistani IT ministry said on Sunday. The statement came after a meeting between Pakistan's IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja and a three-member GuoDong Group delegation, led by its founder and chairman Lu Jie in Shanghai. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Global Artificial Intelligence Conference, at which both sides discussed investment opportunities in Pakistan, according to the Pakistani IT ministry. 'The delegation expressed strong interest in investing in Pakistan's ICT sector, with a focus on telecommunication towers, data centers, and cloud computing infrastructure,' the Pakistani ministry said in a statement. 'Mr. Lu Jie also conveyed interest in expanding to new energy domains, including EV charging stations, smart city solutions, and advanced material manufacturing within Pakistan.' The development comes as Pakistan, slowly recovering from a macroeconomic crisis under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, has been looking to boost foreign investment for sustainable growth. In May, the Pakistani government allocated 2,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity in the first phase of a national initiative to power cryptocurrency mining and Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers. The South Asian country is also looking to build critical electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure as it targets 30 percent of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030 under its ambitious New Electric Vehicle Policy (NEVP) 2025–2030. Welcoming the proposals, Khawaja invited the GuoDong Group officials to visit Pakistan for more detailed discussions with relevant stakeholders. 'She assured the delegation of the Government's full support and facilitation to help realize these investment initiatives,' the IT ministry said.
