Ukraine to receive 230 containers of defence items from Pakistan

Ukraine-Pakistan defence nexus looms large on the horizon even as the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister undertakes a four-day visit to India from April 9.

Signalling to deepen defence partnership, Pakistan will ship 230 defence containers this month from the Karachi Port via two vessels MV Bokram and MV Kherson, ET has reliably learnt.

Ships transferring weapons from Pakistan to Ukraine are increasingly using the US and European flags, ET has learnt from persons familiar with the issue. Ports in Poland and Germany are the main gateway to transfer arms from Pakistan that included tanks and rockets, ET had earlier reported.

Interestingly, Pakistan is assisting Ukraine even as it seeks Russian assistance to upgrade aircraft engines. Islamabad is claiming that it will receive discounted oil from Russia beginning at the end of April. However, there is no concrete evidence of any Russia-Pakistan energy deal.

It has come to light that Ukraine-Pakistan-China in the past had created a nexus to share missile technology among themselves. The Indian establishment is trying to verify if Ukraine is still involved in sharing any missile technology with Pakistan, ET has learnt. In 2021, Pakistan was keen to purchase an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system from Ukraine. Kyiv has also been accused of assisting North Korea in the past with missile technology.

Ukraine has been facing a shortage of arms and ammunition and Pakistan has emerged as a key supplier of defence equipment in lieu of Western aid. Last year, the UK used Pakistan as an air bridge to supply arms to Ukraine via Romania. Nur Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi was part of the air bridge reportedly used by the UK for military aircraft flights to Avram Iancu Cluj International Airport in Romania via a British air base in the Mediterranean to transfer arms to Ukraine. ET was the first report on this development. Some of the shipments were based on a memorandum of understanding between Pakistan and the UK's defence ministry.