Islamabad/London:
According to a media report, Pakistan, facing an economic crisis, allegedly earned US$364 million last year from an arms deal with two private American companies to supply weapons to Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia. According to BBC Urdu News on Monday, a British military cargo plane flew a total of five times from the Pakistan Air Force’s Noorkhan base in Rawalpindi to Cyprus, the British military base in Akrotiri and then to Romania to supply arms to Ukraine.
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However, Pakistan has consistently denied having supplied arms to Romania’s neighboring country, Ukraine.
The news said that these agreements to supply weapons to Ukraine were dated August 17, 2022 and were specifically related to the purchase of 155 mm cannon shells.
Citing further evidence to support its claims, BBC Urdu said data from the State Bank of Pakistan also showed that the country’s arms exports increased by 3,000 percent during the fiscal year 2022-23.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan has refused to sell arms and ammunition to Ukraine, saying that Pakistan maintains a policy of strict neutrality in the dispute between the two countries and that neither country has access to arms or ammunition in this war.
These alleged agreements were made during the rule of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The PDM, a coalition of various parties, toppled the Imran Khan-led government through a no-confidence vote in April last year.