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PM Shehbaz, President Erdogan launch jointly-built PNS Khyber at Istanbul Shipyard

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday jointly launched PNS Khyber, the third of the four MILGEM corvettes for Pakistan Navy at Istanbul Shipyard.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi also attended the inauguration ceremony. Earlier, the first corvette for the Pakistan Navy, PNS Babar, was launched in Istanbul in August 2021, while the foundation stone for the second ship, PNS Badr, was laid in Karachi in May 2022.

The MILGEM project based on joint cooperation between the two countries is an important milestone in the Pakistan-Turkey strategic partnership. Addressing the ceremony, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it is another great day in our historical relations and brotherhood to witness the launching of PNS Khyber.

Recalling the old fraternal ties between the two brotherly countries, he thanked Turkiye for standing by Pakistan and supporting our cause at every international forum. The Projects shows how Pakistan and Turkiye are deeply engaged in promoting our defence capabilities for peace. He further made it clear that our cooperation is not aimed at promoting wars and aggression but peace and defence.

The Prime Minister commended the efforts of Turkish President for export of wheat from Ukraine. He said to cut our energy expense and reduce carbon emission we are planning to immediately shift to renewable energy resources and for this purpose we desire Turkish cooperation as Turkiye has great potential in this field.

He specially thanked the Turkish President for the assistance provided during the most devastating flood that hit Pakistan recently. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi congratulated the leadership of both countries on this occasion and also thanked the President of Turkiye for defence cooperation with Pakistan.

Minister for Defence Production Muhammad Israr Tareen said this project is an evidence of our brotherhood and strong defence collaboration. He expressed confidence that this cooperation will further intensify in future.

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