In a comprehensive report released on Tuesday, BBC Urdu asserted that Pakistan purportedly engaged in a substantial arms transaction amounting to $364 million with two private U.S. entities last year. The arms in question were allegedly dispatched to Ukraine to support its conflict with Russia.
The Russia-Ukraine crisis, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion on February 24 of the previous year, has been a focal point of global attention. Despite these claims, the Pakistani Foreign Office vehemently denied any involvement in arms sales to Ukraine, emphasizing the nation’s commitment to maintaining a stance of “strict neutrality” in the ongoing dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
It is crucial to highlight that these alleged transactions transpired during the tenure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a multi-party coalition that ousted the Imran Khan-led government through a no-confidence vote in April of the preceding year. Notably, the Army chief at that time was General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who retired in November 2022.
During the purported period of these contracts in August 2022, the Ukraine crisis held significant prominence in Pakistan’s political discourse, particularly following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow on the day of the invasion. Several months later, General Bajwa distanced himself publicly from Imran Khan and advocated for an immediate halt to the invasion.
Despite assertions from the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, during his visit to Pakistan in July, rejecting reports of arms supply from Pakistan, BBC Urdu’s recent report claims that Pakistan signed contracts with American companies, namely “Global Military” and “Northrop Grumman,” for the sale of 155mm shells.
The contracts, detailed in the American Federal Procurement Data System, purportedly reveal that these weapons were procured from Pakistan, with agreements signed in August 2022 and specifically tied to the acquisition of 155mm shells. The report alleges a $232 million contract with Global Military and another $131 million contract with Northrop Grumman, both of which expired in October 2023.
BBC Urdu’s report further contends that deliveries occurred via a British military cargo plane from Nur Khan Air Base, landing in Rawalpindi on five occasions. The first such landing coincided with General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s expression of commitment to elevate Pakistan-UK relations to “historic heights” during an address at the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.
Each time, the plane reportedly traversed from Nur Khan Air Base to the British military base in Cyprus and then to Romania, a sequence of events occurring while Russia was engaged in hostilities in Ukraine’s neighboring country.
The report also draws attention to data from the State Bank of Pakistan, asserting a staggering 3,000% increase in the country’s arms exports during FY2022-23. It states that arms exports surged from $13 million in 2021-22 to $415 million in 2022-23.
Quoting a document from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a U.S. Department of Defense funding program, the report claims that contracts for the supply of 155mm shells to Ukraine were established in August 2022. Remarkably, the value of these contracts aligns closely with the purported $364 million arms transactions from Global Military and Northrop Grumman to Pakistan in the same period.
