��������

KARACHI: Pakistan and Russia have been conducting a joint military exercise that focuses on drone warfare among other things, the Pakistani military said on Friday.

The development comes as militants in Pakistan have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country’s northwest, police say, in a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region.

It also follows a four-day conflict between Pakistan and India in May that saw the large-scale use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), fighter jets and artillery, leaving nearly 70 people dead on both sides.

Pakistan and Russia have been conducting the Druzhba-VIII exercise from Sept. 15 till Sept. 27, with senior military officials from Russia in attendance, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media arm.

“The exercise was aimed at refining the drills, procedures and techniques involved in Counter Terrorism operations with focus on drone warfare, fighting in built-up areas and counter improvised explosive devices through joint training, besides harnessing the historic military to military relations among the friendly countries,” the ISPR said in a statement.

Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have warmed up to each other in recent years through regular political, business, trade and defense interactions. In March, a Russian navy flotilla arrived in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi to conduct joint exercises with Pakistan Navy.

The latest exercise comes ahead of the Indian military’s plans to test drone and counter drone systems next month in a major exercise to toughen its air defenses, Reuters reported this week, citing a senior officer.

Since the four-day clash, both neighboring countries have ramped up drone development in what analysts describe as a drone arms race. India has also announced plans to build an indigenous air defense system, dubbed ‘Sudarshan Chakra’, by 2035 — an initiative officials have likened to Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’.

KARACHI: Pakistan is planning Saudi-linked port and shipping projects, including new gateway terminals, direct shipping routes and green ship recycling yards, as part of efforts to become a logistics bridge between the Gulf, Central Asia and China, the maritime ministry said on Friday.

Officials say Pakistan’s location at the mouth of the Arabian Sea gives it a strategic advantage in connecting Gulf energy exporters with China and the landlocked markets of Central Asia. With Gulf–China trade volumes rising and regional shipping routes expanding, Islamabad is seeking to position its ports as key nodes in emerging transport corridors.

According to a statement from the maritime ministry, Technical Adviser for Maritime Affairs Muhammad Jawad Akhtar proposed several new projects with ��������.

These included “Karachi–KSA and Gwadar–KSA Gateway Terminals, expansion of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation fleet under Saudi partnership, start direct shipping lines from Karachi to Jeddah and Gwadar to Dammam, and establish 20 green ship recycling yards at Gaddani,” the maritime ministry statement said.

Karachi Port and Port Qasim — Pakistan’s two largest and busiest seaports handling most of the country’s container and cargo traffic — along with Gwadar Port, a Chinese-developed deep-sea port near the mouth of the Arabian Gulf, are seen as key to these plans.

Maritime Affairs Minister Muhammad Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said the effort was part of a broader plan to integrate Pakistan’s ports and logistics infrastructure with regional trade routes.

“We are not merely compiling lists of projects; we are shaping a national roadmap for logistics and connectivity,” he said.

“Pakistan performs best under compressed timelines, and this is one such moment.”

Chaudhry said Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gwadar Port would be central to the plan, which aims to link them to regional transport corridors through rail, road and air networks. 

He highlighted the importance of the long-delayed ML-1 railway modernization project — a planned multi-billion-dollar upgrade of Pakistan’s 150-year-old main railway line from Karachi in the south to Peshawar near the Afghan border — expected to boost freight and passenger traffic from the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to southern ports. He said Pakistan must align its development agenda with the connectivity needs of partner countries.

Chaudhry added that a joint working group bringing together the maritime, communications, railways and defense ministries would hold its first meeting next week to shortlist priority projects for rapid funding and development.

Other ministries outlined their own connectivity priorities. The communications ministry called for laying fiber optic cables along railway lines, expanding submarine cable networks and speeding up completion of the M-6 motorway — a 394-kilometer section of Pakistan’s north–south highway network linking the port city of Karachi to Sukkur in interior Sindh province — described as a missing link in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multibillion-dollar infrastructure and energy program that is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The communications ministry also highlighted plans for an M-10 motorway extension through the Khirthar mountains in southern Pakistan to complement existing road infrastructure.

A petroleum ministry representative said a $300 million feasibility study was underway for a new merchant oil terminal at Hub, an industrial town near Karachi, as part of Pakistan State Oil’s infrastructure expansion strategy.

Chaudhry urged ministries to deliver a clear, investment-ready roadmap that would attract international financing and cement Pakistan’s role as a “central bridge” connecting the Gulf with Central Asia and China.