PNS warship’s commissiong ceremony held in Turkey; Erdogan stresses need for enhanced cooperation in defence production

The commissioning ceremony of a Pakistan Navy Milgem class ship, PNS Khaibar, has been held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised the need for enhanced mutual collaboration in the field of defence production between the two countries.

The military’s media affairs wing said in a statement on Sunday that President Erdogan was the chief guest on the occasion while Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf also attended the ceremony.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations statement, Erdogan “termed the brotherly relations between Pakistan and Turkiye as exemplary“ while addressing the ceremony.

“The president further emphasised the need for enhanced mutual collaboration in the field of defence production in the future as well,” the statement read.

The contract for four Milgem class corvettes for the Pakistan Navy with concurrent transfer of technology was signed with ASFAT Inc, a Turkish state-owned Defence contractor firm in 2018.

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