Pakistan and UK sign arms deal

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United Kingdom on Wednesday singed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase defence.

Lt Gen (r) Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai, defence production secretary, and UK permanent Undersecretary of State for Defence Sir Kevin R Tebbitt signed the MoU on behalf of their countries, a press release stated. The deal would help open new avenues in defence cooperation between Pakistan and the UK, the release said, adding that it would facilitate the procurement of defence equipment and transfer of technology. Besides the deal, both sides also signed the minutes of the 7th meeting of the Pak-UK Defence Cooperation Forum (DCF), the release said. Both sides also agreed to hold joint exercises, exchange observers and fight terrorism together, the release said, adding that they agreed to hold counter-terrorism workshops and seminars to benefit from each other’s experience. Before the meeting’s concluding session, the defence secretary said there existed a wide range of cooperation between Pakistan and the UK, which need to be further strengthened. Sir Tebbitt said it was essential to have close relations between both countries so as to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

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