ISLAMABAD  -  Commissioning ceremony of the 1st Pakistan Navy MILGEM Ship PNS BABUR was held at Istanbul Naval Shipyard, Turkiye. Accord­ing to a press release received here Sunday, Minister of National De­fence Turkiye Yagar Güler and De­fence Minister of Pakistan Lt Gen (Retd) Anwar Ali Hyder graced the occasion as chief guests. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muham­mad Amjad Khan Niazi also attend­ed the ceremony.

While addressing on the occasion, Turkish Defence Minister termed the Pakistan-Turkiye relations as exemplary and acknowledged the potential for further collaboration in the field of defence production. He lauded the efforts and remark­able work done by Istanbul Naval Shipyard and M/s ASFAT (Turk­ish Firm). He also thanked the government of Pakistan and Paki­stan Navy for exceptional support during recent devastating earth­quakes at Turkiye.

During his address, the Pakistan Defence Minister admired the col­laboration of Ministry of Defence Production Pakistan, Ministry of National Defence of Turkiye, M/s ASFAT and Pakistan Navy for syn­ergized efforts to make the proj­ect a success and congratulated all teams on successful commission­ing of 1st MILGEM Ship. He added that relationship between Pakistan and Turkiye is unique because of deep rooted historical ties between the two brotherly countries, hence cooperation shall continue in fu­ture as well.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muham­mad Amjad Khan Niazi underlined that PN MILGEM Ships fitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sen­sors will play a key role in main­taining peace and stability in the re­gion. He expressed his gratitude for enhanced collaboration in defence production especially in Maritime domain between the two countries. The Admiral stated that in line with the govt policies, Pakistan Navy has adopted indigenization of plat­forms and hence it is very satisfy­ing to see modern warships being built in collaboration with brother­ly country Turkiye.

PN MILGEM Class ships are the most technologically advanced and state-of-the-art surface platforms being constructed for Pakistan Navy. The ships will be fitted with latest Command & Control Systems including modern weapons and sensors. The contract for construc­tion of 04 MILGEM Class ships for Pakistan was signed between Min­istry of Defence Production, Paki­stan and M/s ASFAT in 2018. Un­der the project, two ships are under construction at Istanbul Naval Ship­yard, while the other two are being constructed at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works. The ceremony was attended by high level civil and military dignitaries from Turkiye and Pakistan and officials of Istan­bul Naval Shipyard