PAKISTAN is expanding its defence exports as it holds advanced talks with several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Sudan, Libya and Bangladesh, with fighter jets, drones and weapons at the centre of potential multi-billion-dollar deals, according to sources.
The main focus of Pakistan’s export push is the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, jointly developed with China and produced in Pakistan. Interest in the aircraft has increased since it was used during Pakistan’s short but intense conflict with India last year, analysts and officials say.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in talks to convert about $2 billion (£1.6bn) of Saudi loans into a defence deal involving JF-17 jets, two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. One of the sources said the overall package could be worth up to $4bn (£3.2bn), including an additional $2bn for military equipment.
The discussions come months after the two countries signed a mutual defence pact, under which both sides agreed to treat an attack on either country as an attack on both.
Pakistan has long provided military training and advisory support to the kingdom, while Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stepped in to support Pakistan financially.
Pakistan’s air chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, was in Saudi Arabia this week to discuss “bilateral defence cooperation, the regional security environment and future avenues of collaboration”, Pakistan’s military said in a statement.
“Our aircraft have been tested, and we are receiving so many orders that Pakistan may not need the International Monetary Fund in six months,” defence minister Khawaja Asif told Geo News.
At the same time, Pakistan is closing in on a defence deal with Indonesia. Reuters sources said talks include the sale of more than 40 JF-17 fighter jets, along with surveillance and strike drones such as the Shahpar drone, and training for Indonesian air force personnel.
Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif attends the Defence Ministers' Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States in Qingdao in eastern China's Shandong province on June 26, 2025. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)
“The Indonesia deal is in the pipeline,” retired Air Marshal Asim Suleiman told Reuters, adding that the number of JF-17 jets under discussion was “close to 40”.
Indonesia’s defence ministry confirmed meetings between defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Pakistan’s air force chief but said no final decision had been taken.
“The meeting focused on general defence cooperation relations and opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation,” ministry spokesman Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait said.
Indonesia is modernising its ageing air force and has already ordered 42 Rafale jets from France, 48 KAAN fighters from Turkey, and is considering US-made F-15EX jets as well as Chinese aircraft.
Pakistan is also close to finalising a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) weapons deal with Sudan, sources said. The package includes Karakoram-8 light attack aircraft, more than 200 drones for surveillance and kamikaze attacks, and air defence systems. Some sources said Super Mushshak training aircraft and possibly JF-17 jets could also be included.
“It is a done deal,” said Aamir Masood, a retired Pakistani air marshal who remains briefed on air force matters.
Pakistan has already signed one of its largest-ever arms deals, worth more than $4bn, with Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army. Talks are also under way with Bangladesh as Islamabad looks to widen its arms export reach beyond South Asia and the Middle East.
Pakistan is currently under a $7bn (£5.6bn) IMF programme, its 24th, which followed a short-term deal in 2023 that helped avert a sovereign default after Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies provided financial support.
(Reuters)
