Islamabad: In order to survive the ongoing economic crisis, Pakistan is being forced to put its military assets on the line with the West pledging financial assistance in exchange for the supply tanks, ammunition and other defence supplies to Ukraine.
According to media reports, Pakistan is mulling the transfer of 44 T-80UD main battle tanks (MBTs) to help Ukraine fortify its defence against Russia.
The traditional allies of Pakistan such as China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not shown interest in giving more loans and with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanding a slew of conditions for a financial bailout, the south Asian country is sinking under a severe economic crisis which is largely self-inflicted.
Pakistan has been supplying weapons, ammunition and artillery shells to Ukraine since the early days of the invasion by Russia. However, this will be the first time tanks will be supplied to Ukraine by a country other than its western allies.
The Pakistan Army has 2,467 tanks. Pakistan, which has close military and industrial relations with Ukraine, had bought over 320 T-80UD tanks – an upgraded version of the Soviet T-80 – from the east European country.
The deal between Pakistan and Ukraine included a complete ecosystem for the maintenance of the T-80UD tanks including ammunition and spare parts.
Ukraine has had close military ties with Pakistan since breaking away from the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1991 and the two countries had concluded defence contracts worth nearly $1.6 billion till 2020.
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