Pakistan may have been a stop on a recent air route used by the West to provide Ukraine with weapons for its conflict with Russia. People with knowledge of the situation claim that the Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi was a part of the air bridge utilised by the West for military aircraft flights to Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport in Romania via a British air base in the Mediterranean.
As the nation’s economic situation worsens, Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently travelled to the UK as part of his recent official business.
Between August 6 and August 15, they claimed, the air bridge allegedly exploited the West Asian air space to transfer weapons while avoiding Iranian and Afghan airspace. They added that a Globemaster plane was employed in the operation.
According to reports, daily sorties via the Pakistan air bridge were conducted with a British Air Force C-17A Globemaster III (call sign: ZZ173) between the aforementioned time frame. According to sources, the Ukrainian Army’s artillery ammo may have been transported.
Since the start of the conflict in February, the West has been arming Ukraine. M270 multiple-launch rocket systems, light anti-tank weaponry, and Brimstone missiles are part of the UK’s formal contribution to this.
The purported development is related to Pakistan’s compliments from the Ukrainian foreign minister. Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba stated at a news conference earlier this week that the two countries’ bilateral relations have “huge potential” and that “we expect increased sympathy of Pakistan for Ukraine.”
In the past, Ukraine’s relationships to Pakistan had a negative impact on those with India. There is little doubt that Kyiv has been a significant source of armaments for Pakistan. Pakistan Ordnance Factory had previously claimed that it supplied small arms ammunition for the military of Ukraine’s standard issue weaponry.
Military Ties
There is a well developed ecosystem in Pakistan for the maintenance, use, ammunition, and replacement components of its more than 320 operational Ukrainian T-80UD tanks. According to reports, Mohammad Zahoor, a billionaire from Pakistan who now lives in Ukraine, has bought two fighter jets to support Kyiv’s conflict with Russia.
Zahoor and his business colleagues allegedly bought the two jets with origins in the Soviet Union from an Eastern European nation. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union provided aircraft to a number of Eastern European nations.
Pakistan and Ukraine decided to strengthen their military ties last year, particularly in the areas of defence production, training, counterterrorism operations, and intelligence. According to reports, Pakistan was eager to improve defence cooperation with Ukraine in the future through technology transfer and joint ventures because both parties may gain from one another’s experience. Ukraine and Pakistan agreed to arms deals worth about $1.6 billion between 1991 and 2020.
Ukraine was one of the countries who opposed India’s nuclear testing in 1998 and denounced India’s conduct at the UN after the test, as you may remember.
Ukraine had also supported UN Resolution 1172, which denounced India’s nuclear test programme. In a similar vein, Ukraine sided with the United Nations in the region and opposed India’s position on the Kashmir issue in the Security Council.
