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KARACHI: A keel-laying ceremony to inaugurate the construction of second MILGEM Class Corvette (warship) for Pakistan Navy was held at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works today (Sunday).
Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi and Minister for Defence Production, Ms Zubaida Jalal, representatives of M/s ASFAT Turkey, Istanbul Naval Shipyard and officials from Government of Pakistan, Pakistan Navy and KS&EW attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Turkish Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar termed keel laying of Pakistan Navy’s MILGEM Corvette as a historic event for defence production ministry, KS&EW and M/s ASFAT of Turkey.
Turkish Minister also appreciated the commitment and dedication of M/s ASFAT, a Turkish state-owned defence firm, and KS&EW for construction of technologically advanced corvette.
Later, Minister Zubaida Jalal lauded the performance of Karachi Shipyard and made it clear that improving the country’s productivity was an important part of our policy.
Zubaida Jalal also said that the construction of this state-of-the-art warship in Pakistan is a welcome development. “MILGEM Class Corvette would be one of the most technologically advanced surface platforms of the Pakistan Navy fleet,” she added.
According to an official statement, “Equipped with state-of-the-art weapons and state-of-the-art sensors, the aircraft includes surface-to-air, surface-to-air missiles and a command and control system.”
Earlier, Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Managing Director Rear Admiral Athar Saleem in his welcome address highlighted that Karachi Shipyard is fully self-sufficient and the government and Pakistan Navy in the defence shipbuilding industry itself.
“It is on track to meet the goals of dependency,” he stressed and added that the launch of the great project with the brotherly country of Turkey would open new avenues for further cooperation in the field of construction of domestically built warships in Pakistan.