Did Mohsin Naqvi attend event against China in US?

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that his visit to the United States aimed to formulate an effective strategy against terrorism with the coordination of the US politicians.

Talking to the media in Houston, he described his meetings with US Congress members as positive.

The Interior Minister made it clear that anyone who would hold arms against Pakistan will be dealt with iron hands.

Mohsin Naqvi said terrorism is not just Pakistan’s fight, but it is a common war of everyone.

Also read: US contractors purchased arms from Pakistan for Ukraine: report 

He said the members of the United States House of Representatives are being incited against Pakistan.

Mohsin Naqvi said politics should not go to the extent that it starts harming Pakistan.

Rejecting the opponents’ poisonous propaganda, Mohsin Naqvi said that he did not attend any event against China in the United States.

Meanwhile, the verifiable data available on the SBP website shows that between fiscal year 2004/05 and fiscal year 2021/22, Pakistan’s total arms exports amounted to $423m. However, between July 2022 and June 2023, arms exports recorded by the SBP were over $460m. This means that Pakistan has exported more arms since the beginning of the war in Ukraine than it had in the 18 years prior to it.

In fiscal year 2022, Pakistan exported about $13m of weapons. In the month of February 2022, when the war in Ukraine began, Pakistan’s arms exports were $509k, rising to $1.1m by April. By August 2022, it shot up to $30m for the month and by January 2023, arms exports stood at almost $75m. The exports are almost entirely made to the United States.

In fiscal year 2023, the exports figures for arms and ammunition rose to a staggering $350m that primarily falls under two HS codes. The first code is HS 9306 for explosives and explosive ammunition such as artillery shells, and the second is HS 9302 for firearms and ammunition such as handguns and bullets as per Federal Board of Revenue definitions.