Last year, Pakistan reportedly engaged in a significant arms sales agreement totaling $364 million with two private US companies, a transaction that BBC Urdu has brought to light.
According to the BBC Urdu report, these arms were purportedly dispatched to Ukraine to aid in its conflict with Russia.
The Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine on February 24.
The arms deal in question involved two contracts inked with American entities known as “Global Military” and “Northrop Grumman,” with the sale specifically focusing on 155mm shells, as detailed in another BBC report.
Drawing information from the American Federal Procurement Data System, the BBC Urdu report alleged that these weapons were procured from Pakistan, with the contracts officially sealed in August 2022.
The agreements, valued at $232 million with Global Military and $131 million with Northrop Grumman, were reported to have concluded in October 2023.
BBC Urdu claimed that the deliveries were made via a British military cargo plane departing from Nur Khan Air Base, making five landings in Rawalpindi.
The route involved flights from Nur Khan Airbase to the British military base in Cyprus and then to Romania, all transpiring during Russia’s military actions in Ukraine’s neighboring country.
Additionally, the State Bank of Pakistan purportedly revealed a staggering 3,000 percent increase in the country’s arms exports during FY2022-23, rising from $13 million in 2021-22 to $415 million in 2022-23.
Foreign Office Reacts
In response to these allegations, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch vehemently denied the claims during an interview with a media outlet.
She labeled the BBC Urdu report as “baseless and fabricated,” asserting that Pakistan adhered to a policy of strict neutrality in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Baloch emphasized that Pakistan did not supply arms or ammunition to either side in the context of the dispute, underscoring that the country’s defense exports always adhere to stringent end-user requirements.
then foreign office should sue bbc urdu, else bbc is telling truth.