Ukraine: Secret US-Pak arms deal helped Islamabad secure IMF bailout
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Islamabad’s duplicity and hypocrisy are legendary.
Until a few months ago, while it was trying to secure discounted crude oil from Russia, at par with India, Pakistan was simultaneously signing a secret arms deal with the US to help Ukraine in the ongoing war to get a controversial IMF bailout for itself.
A covert arms sale from Pakistan to the US, for use in Ukraine, played a crucial role in securing the IMF bailout recently, amidst the Russia-Ukraine conflict, The Intercept reported on Monday.
These arms sales were ostensibly intended for the Ukrainian army, marking Pakistan’s indirect involvement in Ukraine’s favor in its war against Russia.
The IMF’s stringent structural policy reforms, which were a prerequisite for the bailout, triggered relentless protests in Pakistan and major strikes occurred across the impoverished country in recent weeks.
Prior to then-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ouster in April 2022, the US State Department diplomats had allegedly said they perceived Islamabad’s stance on the Ukraine war as “aggressively neutral” under Khan’s leadership. They cautioned of dire consequences if the cricketer-turned-politician remained in power, and pledged that “all would be forgiven” if he were deposed.
After Khan’s removal, Pakistan became a valuable supporter of the US and its allies in the Ukraine conflict, support that has now been rewarded with an IMF loan. This emergency loan allowed the new Pakistani government to avert an impending economic crisis and indefinitely postpone elections, during which time it embarked on a nationwide crackdown on civil society and detained Khan.
Pakistan, the media reported, is recognized as a production center for the basic munitions required for protracted warfare. Ukraine faced chronic shortages of munitions and military equipment until it started using Pakistani-produced munitions.
However, neither the US nor Pakistan have publicly acknowledged this arrangement, the reports said.
Records detailing the arms transactions were leaked to The Intercept by a Pakistani military insider. These documents were about munitions sales agreed upon between the US and Pakistan from the summer of 2022 to the spring of 2023.
The arms deals were facilitated by Global Military Products, a subsidiary of Global Ordnance, a controversial arms dealer that has recently been the subject of scrutiny because of its associations with questionable figures in Ukraine, as reported in The New York Times.
These documents revealed the financial trail and discussions with US officials, including American and Pakistani contracts, licensing, and requisition documents linked to US-brokered purchases of Pakistani military weaponry for Ukraine
