Brigadier Paul Hayhurst, the UK’s Defense Advisor to Pakistan, said on Tuesday that strengthening ties with Islamabad is “really important” for the region’s safety.
The British warship HMS Lancaster has arrived in Karachi to participate in joint exercises with the Pakistan Navy. Speaking to the media, Brigadier Hayhurst claimed that the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan has increased “more than anyone anticipated” since the fall of Kabul.
“The global security situation with Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has also reputedly reduced GDP of Pakistan by about 1pc,” he continued.
After this, he insisted, “it is now really important for the UK to continue to develop its relationship with Pakistan to enhance the regional security not only within the country but the maritime security around the course.”
The UK defense advisor stated that England and Pakistan’s collaboration has reached a new level with the arrival of HMS Lancaster and the subsequent maritime drills between the two countries.
Commander Chris Sharp of HMS Lancaster, UK Maritime Component Commander Commodore Philip Dennis, and British High Commissioner Jane Marriott stood behind Brigadier Hayhurst.
Commerce between the United Kingdom and Pakistan reportedly “tripled.”
Ambassador Jane Marriott said that “trade between Pakistan and the UK has tripled to nearly 4.4bn pounds,” with the majority of that growth coming from the import of metal parts into Pakistan and the sale of textiles to England.
We are beginning to investigate ways to broaden it to more industries, such as information technology services, she said.
Marriott also shared that the United Kingdom is exploring opportunities to leverage climate financing as part of the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) projects by providing “international private financing, seed funding from the UK as an investment to climate resilience work in Pakistan, and increasing its efforts on the project for renewable energy.”
The newly appointed ambassador was asked if there is a system in place to monitor the UK’s spending, and she responded that “rigorous system to track and keep a very close eye on financing to ensure that all goes to the right place and delivers the output” for projects like solar energy.
In regards to cricket, Marriott stated that the England team would be traveling Pakistan at the end of the following year, following the May 2024 trip of the United Kingdom by the Pakistan men’s and women’s cricket teams.
Relations at Sea
According to Commodore Philip Dennis, deputy commander of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), “building ties from short and small exercises to building the nation-to-nation relationship is important for the wider security of the region,” which is why the arrival of HMS Lancaster in Pakistan is so significant.
The CMF is a maritime collaboration of 38 nations working together to prevent the smuggling of conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction, and narcotics via international waters.
According to Commodore Dennis, “the correlation of these countries is a really strong way to enable free navigation and keep waters safe for commercial shipping because this region is critical for the world for trade.”
They were able to successfully interdict “$2bn worth of street value of narcotics” in the first half of 2023, he said, thanks to cooperation with Pakistan’s Anti-Narcotics Force.
