Pakistan can sell weapons in the Middle East, but can it sell security?

Arms exports are raising Islamabad’s strategic visibility, but domestic instability continues to limit how far that influence can reach.

Share

Save

As Pakistan positions itself as a regional security provider, rising militancy and economic constraints continue to test the sustainability of that ambition.

From February 2 to 4, Libya’s eastern commander, renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, visited Rawalpindi for talks at Pakistan’s army headquarters with the army chief, Asim Munir. The visit might have seemed routine, but it highlights Pakistan’s expanding defence diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).