EXCLUSIVE: Damning proof of Pakistan Army’s exorbitant profits from arms exports to Ukraine

| Updated: 11 April, 2023 12:34 am IST

As the debt-ridden Pakistan struggles through one of the worst economic crises in its history with stampedes at food distribution centres becoming a regular affair, explosive evidence has come to light revealing the Pakistani Army earned exorbitant profits from export of enormous quantities of arms and ammunition to Ukraine through the Western countries.

Despite claiming neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, the terror state’s deceitful facade has been completely exposed by the documents obtained by The New Indian.

As per the bills in possession of The New Indian, between February and March this year alone, 42,000 122 MM BM-21 Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers were shipped from Pakistan and routed to Ukraine via the US, the UK and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The New Indian has documented several instances of Pakistani arms being used in Ukraine against Russia.

The latest bills and letters obtained by The New Indian reveal that the state-owned Pakistan Ordnance factories have been selling ammunition to Ukraine through the UK, the US and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has routed 60,000 155mm HOW HE M107 via the US; 25,000 120mm Mortar Bomb HE, 20,000 122mm HE D30 R.C. and 130,000 rocket 122mm MBRL routed through the UK, and 30,000 40mm RPG7 HEAT ammo routed through Saudi Arabia to Ukraine.

Pakistan has received 364 million USD so far from the above arms sales while another 309 million USD is still pending. Out of the $364 million, strangely, the bulk of the profit, that is 80 percent share has gone to the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi.

These documents provide valuable insight into the sheer volume of arms being exported and the staggering profits being accumulated by the General Headquarters of the Pakistani Army. This is why, despite the country’s economic crisis, the Pakistani Army remains preoccupied with acquiring weapons.

Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) is a state-owned corporation based in Wah Cantonment, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a major firearms and defense contractor, and the largest defense industrial complex operating under Pakistan’s Ministry of Defense Production.

In one bill generated for 42,500 122 MM BM-21 Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher Dated as recently as Feb 8, 2023, POF requested for an online transfer to OF LO Karachi, Welfare Fund account NO. 12971.9 NBP Saddar Karachi, branch code No. 0055, in advance. The subject line of this bill reads, “Export to friendly countries 5th, 6th, 7th shipment.”

As per the bill, an amount of Pakistani Rs 43 million has been assessed for various tasks related to loading and unloading, packing, carpentry, labour, and port clearance.

“The estimated values for these tasks are tabulated with lifters, cranes, and machinery costing 10.5 million, packing and purchasing of wooden materials and carpentry job costing 12.5 million, labour costing 8.5 million, setedoring costing 9.5 million, and port clearance costing 2 million,” the bill reads.

The total cost of these tasks is Pakistani Rs 43 million. The funds were to be received by POF in the Welfare fund account number 2971-9 at NBP Saddar Karachi, with the branch code number 0055 in advance.

In another letter addressed to the Traffic Manager of Karachi Port Trust a request for permission to enter goods into the port for shipment was made on January 18, 2023.

The vessel name is BBC Direction and the agency name is Embarkation Headquarters. The destination port is Southampton, and the shipper’s name is POF Indus. Southampton is a port city on England’s south coast.

The weight of the goods is 1893.95 metric tons, and the commodity being shipped is Defense Store. The total amount for the shipment is Rs 1.15 lakhs.

Pakistan has unsuccessfully tried to keep this exchange a secret.

An interview with a European Union official in Islamabad, published by Geo News, a prominent Pakistani news outlet, acknowledged Pakistan’s provision of “military assistance” to Ukraine in February. However, the references were removed from the article without explanation shortly after their publication.

Despite this, the references can still be accessed via the Internet Archive, the Google cache of the channel’s official Facebook page, and the article’s URL.

It is well known that Pakistan has been supporting Ukraine, with reports from open-source Ukraine watchers and publications such as Le Monde indicating that Pakistani defense manufacturers have been supplying Ukraine with short-range artillery and other military equipment since last year.

Media reports quoted flight records that indicate that Pakistan’s arms sales to Ukraine are delivered indirectly through third parties among Kyiv’s European allies. Although the arms provided by Pakistan to Ukraine are not as significant as the tens of billions of dollars’ worth of military aid provided by Western countries, such as Javelin missiles, HIMARS rocket launchers, and Bradley tanks, they still represent a crucial source of lethal assistance for Kyiv. Alongside Azerbaijan, Pakistan is one of the few non-Western countries that provide such support to Ukraine.

The New Indian has consistently reported on these developments.

Pakistan has the ability to provide Ukraine with certain weapons that it requires in its ongoing conflict with Russia. The state-owned Pakistan Ordnance Factories produces artillery, such as the 122mm Yarmuk rockets, which can be utilized with Ukraine’s multiple-launch rocket systems that adhere to the Soviet standard.

Apart from assisting Ukraine, these sales can also help Pakistan generate foreign exchange reserves as it deals with a balance of payments crisis and pays for its own weapons imports.

These transactions are usually extremely secretive. With these leaked receipts and letters in The New Indian’s possession, the secrecy would be hard to maintain. It would also be interesting to see how Russia deals with these revelations and how it impacts Pakistan-Russia relationship.