Pakistan and South Africa enhance defense cooperation agreement

Pakistan and South Africa have agreed to strengthen their defence cooperation. This agreement was made during a meeting of the Pakistan-South Africa Joint Defence Committee (JDC) held from March 17 to 19 in Islamabad. The Pakistani delegation was led by Defence Secretary retired Lt Gen Muhammad Ali. The South African team was represented by acting Defence Secretary Dr Thobekile Gamede. They discussed how to improve their partnership in areas like defence innovation, cyber and space technologies, and artificial intelligence. Mr. Ali highlighted the need to expand cooperation to address new global security issues. He stated that exploring joint ventures in defence innovation is essential. Dr. Gamede expressed South Africa's interest in technology transfer, training exchanges, and collaborating on defence industries. The next JDC meeting is set to take place in South Africa. In March 2017, Pakistan and South Africa signed a memorandum of understanding to boost their defence cooperation, which included military training exchanges and potential arms trade.