ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa applauded his country’s strategic partnership with China after witnessing the commissioning of an advanced Chinese tank into the army’s strike formation in Gujranwala city on Tuesday.
Pakistan and China have maintained strong diplomatic and military cooperation with each other.
The two countries signed a defense pact in December 2020, only a few months after the United States and India reached the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation.
After jointly developing JF-17 fighter jet with China, Pakistan formally inducted VT-4 Tank on Tuesday, said the military’s media wing, ISPR, in an official statement.
“VT-4 Tank is another symbol of [the] Pakistan-China strategic cooperation and defense collaboration,” the army chief said at the occasion. “Its induction will boost strike capabilities of our formations.”
According to the ISPR statement, the Chinese tank “is a robust war fighting machine” with “advanced armor protection, high maneuverability and exceptional firepower.”
“The fast-changing dynamics of warfare demand highest degree of professionalism and rigorous training with due focus on harnessing sophisticated technologies,” he added.
General Bajwa maintained that a continuous up-gradation of conventional capabilities was imperative to maintain “qualitative edge over adversary and deter aggression.”
He also witnessed the Dynamic Integrated Training Simulator for VT-4 Tank.
After jointly developing JF-17 fighter jets, Pakistan now formally inducts advanced Chinese tank
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After jointly developing JF-17 fighter jets, Pakistan now formally inducts advanced Chinese tank
- General Qamar Javed Bajwa witnessed the induction of the VT-4 tank into the army’s strike formation
- Pakistan and China inked a defense pact in 2020 after US and India signed military agreement
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
