Counter-Terrorism Training: Nigeria-Pakistan Strenghten Bilateral Relations

NIGERIA – PAKISTAN STRENGHTEN BILATERAL RELATIONS

Nigeria and Pakistan have agreed to further enhance the long existing bilateral relationship between them.

This was made known on Tuesday by the Pakistan Director General of Foreign Military Cooperation, Major General Muhammad Shafiq when he led a Pakistani Delegation to the Second Round of Nigeria-Pakistan Staff Talk at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja.

General Shafiq disclosed that the Staff Talk would afford both countries the opportunity to understand their war capabilities and systems, adding that the two countries have developed wide-ranging Defence cooperation which has continued to grow from strength to strength especially, in the area of military training, joint exercises, intelligence sharing, counter terrorism, as well as defence industrial collaboration.

Welcoming the Pakistani delegation, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Gabriel Olonisakin who was represented by the Director General, Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), Major General Bamidele Olaleke Ogunkale expressed the need to sustain the momentum of the successes of the First Staff Talk, which he described as been highly beneficial to the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

He was optimistic that the Second Round of the Staff Talk would assist Nigeria in its strategies to maintain peace and security within the country, especially in the troubled North East and as well improve the cordial relationship between the two countries.

Maj Gen Ogunkale said “This Round of Staff Talk would include a presentation on Counter Terrorism and counter Insurgency: Nigeria Perspective, to be presented by the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, Major General LEO Irabor and other services of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.

Ogunkale quoted Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan who said: “Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large”.

Recalling the first staff talk which held in Islamabad in 2016, the DG DICON said, “The following offers were made to the Armed Forces of Nigeria- Life extension programme and general overhaul of F-7NI aircraft, repair/overhaul of 14 units C-130 aircraft propeller assemblies and maintenance of air defence radars.

Others are installation of special flight instrument display unit on NAF aircraft.

Also, cooperation in military production were exploited in the areas of technical cooperation with the Pakistan Ordinance Factory (POF) and other Pakistani defence related industries, development of telecom products in Nigeria and transfer of technology and building capacity through the establishment of production lines for production of communication equipment in Nigeria.

While noting that since the first staff talk, the Nigerian Army has subscribed to training slots on anti-terrorist training of Special Forces course in Pakistan, he said a total of 60 Nigerian Army personnel have so far been trained.

It would be recalled that Nigeria and Pakistan signed a bilateral agreement on military cooperation in 2010, which paved way for the convening of the First Round of the Nigeria-Pakistan Staff Talk held at the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ) in Chaklala, Islamabad, Pakistan in November 2016.