New Delhi: In return for Pakistan’s military assistance to Ukraine, of “defence equipment and tanks via European states”, Ukraine will supply Mi-17 helicopter engines and spare parts to Pakistan’s military. The Economic Times reports it has learnt of a deal worth $1.5 million. The equipment is set to be made by Ukrainian defence company Motor Sich JSC.
The newspaper reports that it has learnt this follows up on a promise made by Ukraine to Pakistan following Pakistan’s assistance with defence supplies at a critical time for the beleaguered state. Ukraine and Pakistan are said to share close military and industrial ties. Between 1991 and 2020, almost $1.6billion worth of arms are said to have been traded, as per the newspaper.
In February, the newspaper had reported on Poland emerging as an intermediary for Ukraine and Pakistan military supplies. It had said that Poland is not just a transit state for transfer of Pakistani arms to Ukraine, as a Polish entity had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Pakistani company “for supply of defence equipment to Kyiv.” Some other Pakistani and Polish companies are also involved in transfer of the equipment, while a Canadian firm had stepped in as an intermediary.
It had added at the time that Pakistan was exporting Anza Mark-II Man Portable Air Defence Systems to Poland, meant for Ukraine. The transportation deal having been “negotiated between Karachi-based firm Millennium Technologies and Poland’s Omida Sea & Air.”
In another route, Pakistan was said to be using a German port to transfer rockets to Ukraine, and that more than 10,000 units of rockets have been shipped, citing sources well aware of Ukraine-Pakistan ties.
Total global military expenditure has increased by 3.7% in real terms in 2022, and is now at a new high of $2240 billion. Military expenditure in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years. “The three largest spenders in 2022 – the United States, China and Russia – accounted for 56 per cent of the world total”, as per new data on global military spending published on April 24 by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).