Pakistan, Korea seek more security cooperation

A delegation of top Pakistani military officials came to Korea last week to gauge the country’s defense capacities and potentially procure weapons and technologies.

Pakistani Defense Production Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain, Lt. Gen. Syed Wajid Hussain and private sector representatives came on the invitation of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

They attended the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition 2015, and visited the Doosan Defense Systems and Technology facilities in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, where they examined armored vehicles. 

“Our Ministry of Defense Production has a mandate to supply domestically produced weapons and equipment to our armed forces, but the rest of the requirements are fulfilled abroad,” the minister told The Korea Herald.

“Korea has highly advanced military technologies and products, such as the T-50 fighter trainer and tank engines, which we are interested in.”

Pakistan is currently considering the purchase of Korea’s T-50 lead-in fighter trainer to revamp its air fleet training program. In March, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Korea’s Defense Agency for Technology and Quality and Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense Production.

Minister Hussain said that Pakistan and Korea have held annual committee meetings on implementing joint ventures in defense production. “There is a proposal to build a shipyard in the Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, and Korea is a priority partner we want to work with,” Lt. Gen. Syed Wajid Hussain said.

The port is a major destination in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. “As Korean commercial and military ships cross the nearby sea en route to the Middle East, it could be a commercially viable project,” according to the general.

Pakistani Ambassador Zahid Nasrullah Khan highlighted that the two countries had cooperated in U.N. Peacekeeping operations around the world. Pakistan, since 1960, has become the largest contributor to the global peacekeeping efforts with over 67,000 soldiers serving.

Regarding the security situation near the border with Afghanistan, minister Hussain said that 90 percent of the area had been combed through the military operation “Strong Blow” ― combining air strikes, artillery and counterinsurgency ― launched after the school massacre in the northwestern city of Peshawar in December. Rehabilitation and construction have begun, although there was much work left to get rid of terrorism completely, he added.

Zhan pointed to the “Peaceful Neighborhood Policy” promulgated by the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which works to improve security with neighboring countries India, Afghanistan, Iran and China.

While Pakistan has maintained that the Kashmir territorial dispute must be part of discussions with India, India has insisted on tackling terrorism first, the ambassador claimed.

“The U.N. Security Council resolution states that the issue be resolved through a free, fair and impartial plebiscite that would determine the Kashmiris’ sovereign fate,” Khan noted. “It is their right to self-determination, and should follow their wishes.”

Khan added, “Like the divided families in Korea, Kashmiri people are divided on both sides across the world’s most heavily fortified borders.”

Crossing the border that separates Kashmir is impossible, but the divided families hold reunions more regularly than the two Koreas, under highly restrictive conditions. The divided families and relatives in India and Pakistan visit each other by obtaining visas, according to the embassy.

Lt. Gen. Hussain said that Pakistan’s security situation was similar to Korea’s, with heavily militarized borders with India and Afghanistan bearing similarities to Korea’s demilitarized zone.

“Pakistan and India are forced to have large militaries under these tense political and security situations, which could alternatively be used for the development of people’s well-being and community,” he said.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)