ISLAMABAD: Türkiye handed over its second MILGEM corvette warship named “PNS Khaibar” to Pakistan this week, the Turkish embassy in Islamabad said in a statement, as both countries enhance their bilateral defense ties. 

Pakistan signed a contract in July 2018 to buy four corvettes for its navy with the Turkish state-owned defense firm ASFAT. The MILGEM project is a Turkish warship program that aims to develop multipurpose corvettes and frigates that can be deployed in a range of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, early warning, anti-submarine warfare, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air warfare, and amphibious operations.

The first of the four MILGEM corvettes, PNS Babur, was delivered in 2023. 

“At a ship delivery ceremony held at the İstanbul Naval Shipyard Command, the MILGEM corvette PNS Khaibar was officially handed over to Pakistan marking yet another milestone in bilateral defense cooperation,” the Turkish embassy said in a press release on Saturday. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the close relations between the two countries in a speech at the handing over ceremony. 

“The Türkiye–Pakistan friendship, rooted deep in our shared history and tested over centuries, will— Allah willing— endure until the end of time, flourish, and grow ever stronger,” the embassy quoted Erdoğan as saying. 

The development takes place as Türkiye and Pakistan move to strengthen their defense relations. Islamabad and Ankara have warmed up to each other after Türkiye’s public condemnation of Indian cross-border strikes in Pakistan earlier this year that sparked a brief military conflict between both sides. 

In July, Türkiye’s foreign and defense ministers also arrived in Pakistan for a series of high-level meetings focusing on counterterrorism, defense cooperation and broader strategic ties.