Pak-Turkey Military Dialogue Group’s 15th meeting held in Ankara

ISLAMABAD: The 15th meeting of Pakistan-Turkey High Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG) was held in Ankara from December 22-23.

Gen Selçuk Bayraktarolu, deputy chief of Turkish General Staff led the Turkish delegation, while Lt Gen Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain (retd), defence secretary led Pakistan’s delegation in the talks, said a press release received here Thursday from Ankara.

During the HLMDG meeting, both the delegations discussed all avenues of mutual cooperation in military training, education, counter terrorism and defence industry cooperation including joint production and procurement. Both sides shared perspectives on prevailing regional environment including the Middle East, South Asia and Afghanistan.

The two sides reaffirmed the resolve to further strengthen defence cooperation. The meeting also took stock of the progress that has been made since the last HLMDG meeting held in Pakistan in April last year. The HLMDG is the highest level of institutional mechanism between Pakistan and Turkey, mandated to charter policies and action plans to promote ties in the defence field. The next session of Pakistan-Turkey HLMDG meeting will be held in Pakistan in 2021.

Lt Gen Mian Muhammad Hilal Hussain (retd) separately called on Minister for National Defence of Turkey Hulusi Akar, Chief of Turkish General Staff General Yaar Guler, head of presidency of Turkish Defence Industries Prof Dr Ismail Demir and CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Dr Temil Kotil. Pakistani delegation also visited defence industry firms including Baykar (UAV OEM), ASELSAN, HAVELSAN and TAI.