Zimbabwe seeks PAF support to modernize air force

A team led by Air Marshal John Jacob Nzvede, Commander of the Zimbabwe Air Force, met with Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force, at Air Headquarters in Islamabad.

However, in this regard, a well-dressed Pakistan Air Force personnel welcomed Air Marshal John Jacob Nzvede with a Guard of Honour.

During the meeting, Chief of the Air Staff reiterated PAF’s unwavering support to provide capacity-building assistance to the Air Force of Zimbabwe in upgradation of it’s human resource, maintenance parameters and operational training. He further said that both the countries have long-standing military to military ties, which are based on convergence on all important issues related to regional peace and security.

Air Marshal John Jacob Nzvede shared his earnest desire as regards to restructuring Zimbabwean Air Force’s training framework from the ab-initio stage, seeking PAF’s comprehensive support. Recognizing PAF’s globally acknowledged training standards, Commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe also conveyed his desire for the training of Zimbabwe Air Force cadets at the prestigious PAF Academy Asghar Khan to benefit from its state-of-the-art training modules. He also articulated Zimbabwe’s request for the deployment of PAF pilots, engineers and technical personnel to assist in modernizing Zimbabwe Air Force. The meeting also focused on the timely procurement and delivery of 12 Super Mushak trainer aircraft to bolster Zimbabwe Air Force’s operational training capacity.

Earlier, Major General Burkhanov Akhmad Jamalovich, Deputy Minister of Defence and Commander of the Air Defence Forces and Air Force of the Republic of Uzbekistan, called on General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee at Joint Staff Headquarters, Rawalpindi.

During the meeting, both sides discussed matters of bilateral strategic interest, with particular focus on evolving regional security situation.

Both sides expressed keen interest in strengthening bilateral military-to-military cooperation.

The visiting dignitary lauded the professionalism of Pakistan Armed Forces and acknowledged their sacrifices in fight against terrorism.