Turkey-Pakistan Naval Cooperation Meeting Held in Pakistan as Navies Deepen Ties

Turkey and Pakistan held the 8th Türkiye-Pakistan Naval Forces Cooperation Meeting in Pakistan from 18 to 21 October 2026, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MSB) said on its official X account on 22 October. The talks are the latest step in a naval partnership built around Turkey’s MILGEM corvette programme for the Pakistan Navy.

Delegations led by the two naval chiefs of staff

According to the ministry, the Turkish delegation was headed by Vice Admiral Erhan Aydın, Chief of Staff of the Turkish Naval Forces, while the Pakistani side was led by Vice Admiral Raja Rab Nawaz, Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Navy. The MSB described the meeting as a sign of strong cooperation between the two countries at sea.

Courtesy calls in Islamabad

On the sidelines of the meeting, Vice Admiral Aydın paid courtesy calls on Turkey’s Ambassador in Islamabad, İrfan Neziroğlu, and on the Commander of the Pakistan Navy, Admiral Naveed Ashraf. The ministry did not publish the agenda of the talks or any agreements reached, and no joint statement had been released at the time of writing.

MILGEM corvettes at the core of the partnership

Naval industrial cooperation is one of the most visible parts of Turkish-Pakistani defence ties. Under the MILGEM project, Turkey is supplying four corvettes to the Pakistan Navy, two built in Turkey and two at Karachi Shipyard with technology transfer. The lead ship, PNS Babur, entered service in 2024, and the second, PNS Khaibar, was handed over in Istanbul in December 2025 in a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The fourth and final hull, PNS Tariq, was launched in Karachi in August 2023.

Why the talks matter

Regular staff-level meetings of this kind are used to review joint exercises, training exchanges, port visits and ongoing procurement projects. For Ankara, the relationship extends Turkish naval industry exports into the Arabian Sea; for Islamabad, it supports fleet modernisation and local shipbuilding capacity. Further details on the outcome of the 8th meeting may be released by either navy in the coming days.

Featured image: U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Combined Maritime Forces / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons