KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday inducted two new warships, Babur and Hunain, into its naval fleet, the Pakistan Navy said, as the nation marked its Defense Day.
The South Asian country celebrates its Defense Day each year on September 6 to honor the soldiers who fought against India in the 1965 war.
A ceremony for the induction of MILGEM Class Corvette Babur and Offshore Patrol Vessel HUNAIN was held at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard in Karachi.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari graced the occasion as the chief guest, according to the navy’s Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR).
“The Chief Guest dilated upon the precarious geo-strategic environment in the Indian Ocean and the need to have a potent Naval force to counter growing traditional and non-traditional challenges,” the DGPR said in a statement.
“He reiterated that induction of these ships in PN Fleet will consolidate and enable the Fleet to meet its ever-growing operational responsibilities.”
President Zardari formally handed over the ships’ scrolls to the commander of Pakistan Fleet, which marked the induction of the two warships.
Hunain is a multipurpose medium-sized offshore patrol vessel, equipped with state-of-the-art electronic warfare, anti-ship and anti-air warfare weapons, sensors, and self-protection and terminal defense system, according to the DGPR.
The Babur-class corvette is a subclass of the Turkish MILGEM project. The corvette class is heavier and larger than the Turkish Ada-class corvette and also equipped with vertical launch systems.
In his welcome address, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf termed the induction of these ships a “major milestone in capacity building of PN [Pakistan Navy] Fleet.”
“He acknowledged the government’s full support for providing best possible resources for this purpose,” the DGPR said.
The induction ceremony was attended by Turkiye’s Deputy Minister of National Defense Bilal Burdali, chairman of Pakistan’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, political leadership and high-ranking officials of the armed forces.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi hosted a reception to mark Defense Day aboard Pakistan Navy Ship Shamsheer at the Cruise Terminal, Mina Zayed Port, the mission said in a statement.
Pakistan’s envoy to the UAE, Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, along with Commodore Shahid Wasif SI (M), Mission Commander of the Pakistan Navy, welcomed chief guest General Salem Saeed Al Jabri, UAE’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Military and Security Affairs, and Brig. Abdullah Al Mohairbi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Navy, at the reception, which was attended by members of the diplomatic corps and officials of the UAE government.
On Defense Day, Pakistan inducts two new warships in its naval fleet
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On Defense Day, Pakistan inducts two new warships in its naval fleet
- Pakistan celebrates Defense Day on Sept. 6 to honor soldiers who fought against India in 1965
- The ships, Babur and Hunain, have been equipped with anti-ship and anti-air warfare weapons
Pakistan urges ‘time-bound and irreversible’ path to Palestinian statehood at UN
- Pakistan warns the Security Council Israeli settlement expansion has reached its highest level in the West Bank
- It says Islamabad backs sustained ceasefire, expanded humanitarian access, protection of UNRWA’s role in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday called for a time-bound and irreversible political process leading to the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state, urging the international community to move beyond declarations and turn long-standing commitments into concrete action.
Addressing a Security Council briefing on the Middle East, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations said repeated diplomatic initiatives had underscored that the status quo was untenable and that only a credible political horizon, grounded in international law, could deliver durable peace.
His remarks came as the Security Council reviewed the implementation of Resolution 2334, which calls on Israel to halt settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory.
Pakistan said recent diplomatic efforts — including a high-level conference in July and the General Assembly’s endorsement of the New York Declaration reaffirming the two-state framework — had sought to preserve the possibility of a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
It said follow-up meetings at Sharm El-Sheikh, along with US-led initiatives under President Donald Trump aimed at halting the fighting, were intended to reopen a political process toward Palestinian statehood.
“A time-bound and irreversible political process, anchored in relevant UN resolutions must lead to the establishment of a sovereign, independent and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Asim Iftikhar Ahmad told the council.
“It is high time to turn promises into action and speed up this process,” he added.
Ahmad said Pakistan backed Security Council Resolution 2803, which calls for efforts to sustain the ceasefire, expand aid access and restart a political track toward Palestinian statehood.
He said settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, had reached its highest levels since the United Nations began systematic monitoring, citing UN findings that more than 6,300 housing units were advanced during the reporting period.
Such actions, he said, had “no legal validity” under international law but continued to undermine the viability of the two-state solution.
Pakistan also defended the role of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), saying it remained indispensable for Palestinian refugees and must not be weakened by what it called unfounded criticism.
Ahmad condemned the storming of UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem earlier this month, calling it a violation of international law and the inviolability of UN premises, and urged full, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, along with the immediate start of reconstruction without annexation or forced displacement.
