Cash-strapped Pakistan is looking for ways to make some money and the country’s military sees an opportunity in the Russia-Ukraine war.
The British defence ministry signed a contract with Pakistan Ordnance Factories in December 2022 for supplying more than 340,000 rockets worth over $500 million to Ukrainian armed forces via various air bridges.
Pakistan will soon ship 122-mm high explosive Yarmuk rockets for multi-barrel rocket launchers via Nur Khan Air Base at Chaklala, Rawalpindi, to Ternopil Oblast in Ukraine through military aircraft C-130, sources told CNN-News18.
NATO-backed Ukraine has been facing a shortage of arms and ammunition in the war against Russia.
Pakistan has emerged as a key supplier of defence equipment in lieu of Western and NATO aid, said sources.
They added that last year, the United Kingdom used Pakistan as an air bridge to supply arms to Ukraine via Romania.
The Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi was part of the air bridge reportedly used by the UK for military aircraft flights to Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport in Romania via a British air base in the Mediterranean to transfer arms to Ukraine.
In 2021, Pakistan was keen to purchase an anti-tank guided missile system from Ukraine, which has been accused of assisting North Korea in the past with missile technology.
Recently, during her India visit, Ukraine’s deputy foreign affairs minister Emine Dzheppar confirmed that her country has had military contracts with Pakistan for decades, which was established during the 1990s. She also said that the relations with Pakistan were not targeted against India.
In February, PTI lawmaker Dr Zarqa Suharwardy raised questions in the Senate, the upper house of Pakistan, about the air bridges and weapons supply to Ukraine, but the defence ministry failed to respond.
According to sources in the Pakistan army, he revealed that the United States, United Kingdom, and other NATO members want to purchase weapons from Pakistan at cheap rates as the nation is cash-strapped.
The country is also planning to enhance its production at the Pakistan Ordnance Factory Wah Cantt for more rockets to supply.
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