• Security
• Wed 01 2026

Pakistan’s Arms Sales Contracts (2024–25) and the Peace Dimension

Pakistan experienced a substantial increase in its defense exports from 2024 to 2025, securing contracts worth approximately $10-12 billion from several countries. These contracts represent Pakistan’s development in the global defense trade and highlight the challenge of reconciling strategic and commercial interests on the one hand with peace and regional stability objectives on the other.

Major Confirmed Contracts

Libya – $4.6 billion

Pakistan has concluded one of its largest-ever defense export deals with the Libyan National Army (LNA) estimated to be worth between $4 billion and $4.6 billion for JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, Super Mushshak trainer aircraft, and land, air, and naval equipment that will be supplied over approximately 2½ years. This agreement, signed amid Libya’s continued turmoil, demonstrates Islamabad’s desire to expand the kinds of goods it exports and also raises questions about peace building and security in conflict zones.

Azerbaijan – $4.5 billion

Azerbaijan also signed a huge contract for 40 JF-17 Block III multirole combat aircraft, ensuring even closer defense cooperation and growing Pakistan’s influence in Eurasia. This deal is one of the biggest in Pakistan’s export history and signifies greater strategic cooperation between the two countries.

Sudan – $1.5 billion

Islamabad is close to a $1.5 billion deal to sell weapons, including Karakoram-8 light attack planes, over 200 drones, and ultra-modern air-defense systems in the Kingdom. Despite being framed to strengthen Sudan’s defense capacities, the deal has also been criticized, given a prolonged internal conflict and humanitarian crisis, highlighting how arms transfer linkages interact with peace dynamics.

Other Emerging Deals

While Pakistan's trade relations with the following countries are not fully shared, it is engaged in actively pursuing or has supplied them with defense products, thus widening its export footprint. Zimbabwe – Pakistan supplied Super Mushshak trainer aircraft and other cooperation.

Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Myanmar, Morocco, Turkey, and Bangladesh – there’s still one of those who having the discussion or negotiations or delivery ongoing with its fighter jets/military trainer aircraft/anything like that. Discussions with Bangladesh also centered around JF-17 Thunder jets and Super Mushshak aircraft under the prospect of defense cooperation.

Strategic Implications

According to the reported data, Pakistan’s foreign defense contracts for 2024-25 are estimated to be between $10 billion and $12 billion — an all-time high in its history of weapon sales — confirming its status as one of the major players in the global arms trade. The sales involve both combat aircraft, trainer planes, and drones, as well as the ancillary systems that come with it to equip any aspiring air force.

Peace, Stability, and Pakistan’s Role

Though these contracts highlight Pakistan’s industrial and diplomatic clout, they also raise significant questions over peace and security:

·         Defense exports can contribute to national industry and economy, but among them, there should be sensitivities for not arming conflicts or destabilizing peace processes in sensitive areas.

·         Pakistani policy abroad is enshrined in the constitution, which guides peaceful coexistence and the resolution of disputes. While it continues to grow its arms sales, Islamabad remains haunted by the need to match the trade with a new, broader peace agenda and not let arms sales make instability worse or hamper diplomacy.

·         Many recipient countries are also being directly influenced by conflict or geopolitical struggles. In these circumstances, Pakistan’s external trade should be coupled with dialogue and cooperation mechanisms that prioritize de-escalation and confidence-building amongst adversarial nations.

The Islamabad Centre for Peace and Education (ICPE) appreciates Pakistan's significant growth in defense exports as an indicator of its industrial development and the expansion of international cooperation. But ICPE also notes these advances must be tempered with the country’s traditional role as a beacon of peace, diplomacy, and regional security.

Defense trade serves the purpose of nation-building, but it should be pursued without causing conflicts or sabotaging peace-building exercises in unstable regions. ICPE calls for Pakistan to incorporate rigorous ethical barriers in its defense diplomacy and restrict exports based on international security norms,s fostering conflict prevention.

Conclusion

The defense export boom in Pakistan is a testament to its acquired proficiency and strategic relationships on more than one continent. But chasing such contracts cannot precede the imperative need for peace, responsible diplomacy, and a respect for regional equilibrium. Through the incorporation of peace-based policies as part of its military trade engagements, Pakistan can safeguard economic interests while simultaneously prevailing upon its legacies an advocate for peace in global politics.