ISLAMABAD, 18 September 2004 — The Pakistan military said yesterday it was working on a 10-year plan to improve the combat capability of the armed forces and end a military imbalance in the region.
“We are working hard to ensure effective implementation of the package, which will end a military imbalance and enhance the defense and combat capabilities of our armed forces,” vice chief of the army staff Gen. Mohammad Yusuf told reporters at the Sonmiani firing range.
Yusuf was speaking after watching a firepower demonstration at the end of the five-day International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) in Karachi.
Pakistan sees itself lagging behind India militarily and has embarked on an ambitious program to upgrade its armed forces and weaponry since military sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries were lifted. “I am confident that the imbalance will go away with implementation of the program,” Yusuf said.
The exhibition of locally manufactured defense equipment attracted 160 delegates from 35 countries around the world.
“We have received a very good response, especially from African and Gulf countries,” the director general of the Defence Export Promotion Organization, Maj. Gen. Syed Ali Hamid, said.
A South African firm has agreed to purchase four more trainer aircraft built by Pakistan after receiving delivery of one such plane here, officials said.
The state-owned Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) signed the sale contract of four Mashak 17-1 aircraft with the Uni Group Holding Private Limited on Thursday, an official statement said.
The PAC delivered one Mashak to the South African company in August after which the contract was signed, it said.
Pakistan wants to expand exports of conventional weapons which stood at $100 million last year.
Pakistan has earlier this year signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to supply 20 Super Mashak, another version of the locally manufactured trainer aircraft, Hamid said. “We will deliver the Super Mashak aircraft to Saudi Arabia by the end of this year for which the deal have already been made,” he said.
