Low on funds According to allegations report, Pakistan supplied Ukraine weaponry for $364 million

 Low on funds According to allegations report, Pakistan supplied Ukraine weaponry for $364 million

Previous reports claimed that cash-strapped Islamabad was able to get an important International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout earlier this year thanks to covert Pakistani weaponry shipments to the US that were intended for use by Ukraine.

The State Bank of Pakistan's statistics also revealed that, in FY 2022–2023, the nation's weaponry exports rose by 3,000%.

Low on funds According to a media source, Pakistan allegedly made $364 million last year from a weapons agreement with two private US businesses to sell munitions to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

In order to provide weapons to the war-torn nation, a British military cargo jet made five flights from Pakistan Air Force facility Nur Khan in Rawalpindi to the British military facility in Cyprus, Akrotiri, and finally to Romania, according to a Monday report from the BBC Urdu. Nonetheless, Islamabad has continuously refuted claims that it has given Romania's neighbor, Ukraine, weaponry. The BBC story said that Pakistan signed two contracts with American corporations called "Global Military" and "Northrop Grumman" for the supply of 155mm rounds, citing details of the deal from the American Federal Procurement Data System.

Signed on August 17, 2022, these agreements to arm Ukraine were particularly related to the acquisition of 155mm rounds. Denying any weaponry or ammunition sales to Ukraine, the Foreign Office in Islamabad claims that Pakistan has maintained "strict neutrality" in the two nations' disagreement and has not given them any in that regard. These purported agreements were made while the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a multiparty coalition that defeated the Imran Khan-led administration in a vote of no confidence in April of last year, was in power.

After promising to raise ties between Pakistan and the UK to a "new height," Pakistan Army leader Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa departed in November 2022. When these purported contracts were signed in August 2022, the Ukraine crisis was a major topic of discussion in Pakistani politics, especially after cricketer-turned-politician Khan visited Russia on February 24 and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an order to invade Ukraine. A few months after the visit, Gen. Bajwa openly broke with Khan and demanded a quick halt to the invasion. Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, denied claims that Pakistan was arming Ukraine to help its armed forces in the country's continuing war with Russia while on a visit to that country in July.

According to the BBC Urdu report, Global Military was given a contract of USD 232 million, while Northrop Grumman inked a deal worth USD 131 million. "These motivations agreements expired last month i.e. October 2023," it continued. According to the allegation, a British military cargo jet from Nur Khan Air Base made five landings in Rawalpindi before making the supplies. In August 2022, the first such aircraft touched down in Rawalpindi. "Each time, the plane flew from Nur Khan Airbase to the British military installations in Cyprus and then to Romania, which happened at a time when Russia were engaged in war in Romania's neighbouring country Ukraine," according to the article. According to BBC Urdu, the State Bank of Pakistan's statistics also indicated that the nation's weaponry exports rose by 3,000% in FY 2022–2023, supporting their assertions with other proof.

Pakistan sold weapons valued at USD 13 million in 2021–2022 and USD 415 million in 2022–2023," the statement said. Previous reports claimed that cash-strapped Islamabad was able to get an important International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout earlier this year thanks to covert Pakistani weaponry shipments to the US that were intended for use by Ukraine. The goal of the weaponry supplies was to support the Ukrainian military, signifying Pakistan's engagement in a war over which it had been pressured to take a side by the United States. However, the allegation that claims Pakistan, a cash-strapped nation, sent armaments to the US in exchange for its cooperation in finalizing the USD 3 billion contract with the IMF by the end of June in order to avoid default, was denied as "baseless and fabricated" by Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Office.