The Pakistani paper Dawn reports that Pakistan and Turkey have agreed to step up efforts to boost trade and cooperation between their defense industries, and also propose to increase the trade volume between the two countries to at least $1 billion from the current level of $400 million.
An aide to Turkish PM Erdogan said later that the two countries were considering joint production of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and patrol boats, while Turkish company Aselsan was willing to sell the Pakistani army electronic warfare equipment. These moves could be part of Turkey’s strategy, covered earlier by DID, to merge its defense industries into a single major player and compete as a supplier on the world stage.
The Turkish prime minister said there was a political will on both sides to take their existing relations to new heights. Mutual support was also expressed on various contentious foreign policy issues, from Kashmir to Cyprus. They also witnessed signing of an agreement on cooperation in science and technology by Law Minister Wasi Zafar and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.