South Asia Investor Review

Pakistan is emerging as a major arms supplier to developing countries in Asia and Africa. Azerbaijan, Myanmar, Nigeria and Sudan have all made significant arms purchases from Pakistan in recent years.  Azerbaijan expanded its order for JF-17 Thunder Block III multi-role fighter jets from Pakistan from 16 to 40 aircraft. The recent order extends a 2024 contract worth $1.6 billion to modernize Baku’s airborne combat fleet to $4.6 billion. This makes Azerbaijan the largest export customer of the Pakistan-made warplane. Bangladesh is negotiating purchase of up to 32 JF-17 Thunder Block III aircraft from Pakistan.  Pakistan PFX Concept Fighter. Source: Raksha Anirveda In Africa, Pakistan has recently signed a $1.5 billion contract to supply combat drones and military trainer aircraft. The order includes 150 armored vehicles, 220 drones and 10 K-8 Karakorum trainer/light attack aircraft.  Earlier in 2021, Pakistan sold three JF-17 Thunder fighter jets and ten Super Mushsha...

A look at Pakistan's current fiscal year 2024-25 budget helps gain insights into how the country is run. It shows the money flows from the key sources of revenue and the nation's spending priorities. Total planned federal spending for the current fiscal year is Rs.18,900 billion (about 69 billion U.S. dollars). This figure does not include the transfer of Rs. 7,438 (US$ 26 billion) from the federal government to the provinces. Under the 18th amendment passed in 2010, the federal government is obligated to share 57.5% of its revenue with the provinces. The federal government is primarily responsible for  defense , foreign affairs,  debt servicing , foreign trade, ports and shipping, and development programs, while food and  agriculture ,  education , healthcare and housing are devolved to the provinces. There still appears to be some overlap of domestic responsibilities between the federation and the provinces.  Pakistan's Budget 2024-25 at a Glance. Visualizatio...

American Defense publication "The Drive" claims that Pakistan has helped China get access to American stealth aircraft technology. Specifically, the American website alleges that the Pakistanis gave Chinese access to the wreckage of the US stealth helicopter destroyed during the American raid to kill Usama Bin Laden in Abbottabad in 2011. Chinese experts have called the accusation "groundless", according to Global Times.  Chinese Stealth Helicopter Model. Source: Henri Kenhmann The accusations surfaced when a Chinese helicopter model, believed to be a variant of the Chinese Z-20 helicopter, was displayed in China on May 19, 2021. The model in question was spotted by @HenriKenhmann who posted a picture of it on  social media .  Here's how " The Drive " website describes it: "The aircraft shown appears to be a stealthy adaptation of China's Z-20 medium-lift helicopter, which itself is something of a clone of the H-60 Black Hawk. The Z-20's s...

 Amir Husain, a Pakistani-American AI expert, has started a defense-focused artificial intelligence company, according to builtinaustin.com .  Amir Husain's AI company SparkCognition has been building artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) software for its various clients since 2013. After closing on a $100 million Series C round last year, the company claims to be “one of the most valuable startups in Texas and one of the most valuable AI startups in the United States.” Earlier this year, Amir Husain and his wife Zaib, both University of Texas at Austin alumni, donated $5 million to launch "Artificial Intelligence Institute" at their alma mater.  Pakistani-American Couple Amir and Zaib Husain “We started to develop software capabilities for a variety of (Department of Defense) clients and partners in the defensive industry,” founder and CEO Amir Husain said in a virtual event announcing the new company, as reported by the Austin-American Statesman . “We inv...

As the South Asian nation of 220 million celebrates Defense of Pakistan Day, it is a good time to ask: Has Pakistan lost all wars to India? Indian defense analyst Pravin Sawhney says NO! In fact, Sawhney argues that Pakistan has never lost to India. Not in 1965, nor in 1971 nor Kargil!! Who is Pravin Sawhney? What makes him an authority on such matters? Pakistan JF-17s Flying National Colors on Defense of Pakistan Day Who is Pravin Sawhney? Pravin Sawhney is a retired Indian Army officer who currently publishes "FORCE" magazine, along with Ghazala Wahab. Both deal with defense matters. Here's how FORCE introduces Pravin Sawhney: "An author of two books, The Defence Makeover: Ten Myths That Shape India’s Image and Operation Parakram: The War Unfinished, a widely circulated monograph, Ballistic Missile Imperatives Between India And Pakistan, which he co-authored with Pakistani scholar Nazir Kamal at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, US, Pravin writes...

Pakistan's public spending on education has more than doubled since 2010 to reach  $8.6 billion a year  in 2017, rivaling defense spending of $8.7 billion. Private spending on education by parents is even higher than the public spending with the total adding up to nearly 6% of GDP. Pakistan has  1.7 million teachers , nearly three times the number of soldiers currently serving in the country's armed forces. Unfortunately, the education outcomes do not yet reflect the big increases in spending. Why is it? Let's examine this in some detail. Pakistan Education Budget: The total money budgeted for education by the governments at the federal and provincial levels has increased from Rs. 304 billion in 2010-11 to Rs. 790 billion in 2016-17,  representing an average of 17.5% increase per year since 2010. Source: Dawn Newspaper Private Education Spending in Pakistan: 2012  Data from UNESCO  and the World Bank shows that the private spending on education...

Air forces of about a dozen developing nations are buying and deploying Pakistani made aircrafts. The reasons for their choice of Pakistan manufactured airplanes range from lower cost to ease of acquisition, maintenance and training. Pakistan's Aircraft Exports: Pakistan started developing defense hardware for imports substitution to reduce external dependence and to save hard currency. Now the country's  defense industry  is coming of age to lead the way to high value-added manufactured exports. Pakistan Super Mushshak Trainer Aircraft Nigerian Air Force is the latest to announce purchase of Pakistan made Super Mushshak aircraft after the United States' refusal to sell to Nigeria, according to American periodical  Newsweek .  Nigerian Air Force chief Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar was quoted by the  Nigerian media  as saying that "Pakistan has accepted to sell ten trainer airplanes. And that is why the Pakistan Chief of Air Staff is coming for the ...

Growing defense collaboration between China and Pakistan irks the West, according to a report in the UK's  Financial Times  newspaper.  The paper specifically cites joint JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, armed drone Burraq and custom AIP-equipped submarines as examples of close cooperation between the two nations. Pakistan's bitter experience with the unreliability of its cold war allies as weapons suppliers has proved to be a blessing in disguise. It has forced Pakistan to move toward self-reliance in production of the weapons it needs to defend itself from foreign and domestic enemies. It all started back in 1965 when the US and its western allies placed an arms embargo on Pakistan during war with India. The bitterness grew stronger when the US forced France to cancel its contract to supply a breeder reactor to Pakistan in 1974 soon after India conducted its first nuclear test. Khushab Nuclear Reactor: Fortunately for Pakistan, the French had already given Paki...

Last year, India decided on a massive 34% increase year-over-year in its defense spending. Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about this dramatic move that puts India among the world's biggest spenders on defense. Q1: How much does India really spend on defense? A1: On paper, India spends $32.7 billion , about 3% of its GDP on defense, after an increase of 34% for 2010. In reality, India spends closer to 3.5% of its GDP on defense. Here's what Col.(Retd) Pavan Nair of the Indian Army has to say about it in a recent guest post on Haq's Musings : India's own specified limit of 3% has been observed only by excluding several items like the cost of the MoD and the expenditure on military pensions which by itself amounts to 15% of the total defense outlay. Several other items like the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI, a regular regiment of the army consisting of thirteen battalions) and the Coast Guard are also excluded. A substantial part of the co...

I have just published on my blog , Haq's Musings, a guest post by Colonel Pavan Nair, a retired Indian Army officer, a detailed analysis of the Indian defense spending in the context of the nation's growing needs for social spending on food, education and health care. Col Nair prefaces his analysis by lamenting that " defense economics has not been a subject for serious study or debate in Indian academic or military circles. Little or no literature is available with the exception of a few books in the area of defense accounts. Economists and activists have long argued that defense related expenditure needs to be curtailed. Opinion is clearly divided between the developmental lobby and strategic thinkers who wield influence with the political leadership." Nair then goes on to accept the challenge of defense economics in India by laying out his case with lots of data and sources, and concludes with the following: Besides external defense, internal security and human-d...

The $663 billion US defense budget for 2010 announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates emphasizes higher spending on counterinsurgency weapon systems, and cuts back on expensive conventional weapon systems. For example, there is a huge increase in the budget for predator class armed drones, helicopter gunships, surveillance, cyber warfare and special (commando) operations. At the same time, it envisions deep cuts in spending on the expensive F22 Raptor stealth fighter, large navy ships and anti-missile defense shield. Here is a quick summary of winners and losers in the 2010 defense budget: Key Winners: 1. Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR): budget to be increased by 2 billion dollars. 2. Predator unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV): Fielding and sustaining 50 Predator-class UAVs. 3. Army aviation forces: recruiting and training of additional Army helicopter crews and increase the budget by 500 million dollars. 4. Special forces: increasing special operation...