Head of Pakistan defence manufacturing meets Bangladesh army chief

A delegation led by Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) Chairman Lieutenant General Shakir Ullah Khattak paid a “courtesy call” on Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman at the Army Headquarters in Dhaka on Sunday.

“In addition to exchanging mutual greetings, they discussed various prospects for defence cooperation between the two countries,” Bangladesh Army said in a statement on its social media platforms.

Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT), established in 1971, is a major military industrial complex and one of the largest defence products manufacturers in the country.

The high-level meeting between Pakistan and Bangladesh military official comes more than two months after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia reached a historical military protection deal. Following the deal with the kingdom, Pakistan had extended offered other friendly countries to sign similar defence pact.

Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan have signed a mutual defence pact, significantly strengthening a decades-old security partnership a week after Israel’s strikes on Qatar upended the diplomatic calculus in the region.

The enhanced defence ties came as Gulf Arab states grew increasingly wary about the reliability of the United States as a security guarantor after Israel’s attack inside Qatar.

Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed, Muslim-majority nation, and also fields the Islamic world’s largest army.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had told Reuters that [the defence] agreement could be extended to cover other Gulf nations.

“We have no intention of using this pact for any aggression,” Asif had said. “But if the parties are threatened, then obviously this arrangement will become operative.”

On the other hand, King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces visited Global Industrial and Defence Solutions (GIDS) in Rawalpindi on November 16.

During the visit, the Jordanian king was given a comprehensive briefing on the structure, capabilities, and product portfolio of GIDS.

The briefing had showcased Pakistan’s progress in indigenous defence production, technological innovation, and potential avenues for bilateral defence cooperation between Pakistan and Jordan.