Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that the MILGEM-class warships were “crucial” to meet the country’s security needs, as Islamabad inaugurated its fourth naval vessel under a deal with Turkiye.
Sharif said that the co-development of the warships represented a “major step towards self-reliance and indigenization in the defense sector”. “The MILGEM project opens new vistas of closer collaboration between Pakistan and Turkiye and will prove to be an enduring icon of our friendship.”
The Pakistani leader expressed confidence that maritime trade activities would “increase manifold with the growth in our financial and industrial base”.
Sharif remarked that Islamabad was committed to developing its maritime infrastructure all along its Arabian Sea coastline in a bid to emerge as a “future trade and trans-shipment hub in the region”.
The port of Gwadar is the concluding point of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under Beijing-backed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The CPEC is a network of connectivity, infrastructure and power projects running from Xinjiang to Gwadar.
At the inauguration ceremony of PNS Tariq, Sharif invited Turkiye to be a partner in the CPEC.
Turkish vice-president Cevdet Yilmaz was in Pakistan on a two-day visit on 1-2 August to co-preside over the launching ceremony.
MILGEM Project
Under MILGEM project launched in 2018, Ankara is helping Islamabad in developing four corvettes for the Pakistan Navy.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), two of these warships have been developed in Pakistan and the remaining two have been built in Turkiye.
Sharif attended the inauguration ceremony of the third naval vessel, PNS Khyber, in Istanbul in 2022.
“The first two Corvettes, PNS Babur and PNS Badar were launched in Istanbul and Karachi, in August 2021 and May 2022 respectively,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry stated.