U.S. Delegation Meets Pakistan Army Chief Over Drone Cooperation
Natalie Baker, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Islamabad, met with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir at the Pakistani army headquarters in Rawalpindi alongside a delegation from the U.S. company PowerAas, in a meeting focused on cooperation in the purchase and joint production of defence equipment. The meeting drew media attention because of the company’s commercial links to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to news sources, the talks focused mainly on exploring areas of cooperation in defence systems and the development of joint production. PowerAas had previously said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan Army and had received the first formal order from the country’s defence ministry for the supply of drone systems and support services.
The financial value of the deal has not yet been disclosed, but sources close to the company said the agreement falls within unmanned aerial systems. The Pakistan Army also said in a statement that talks with the U.S. delegation focused on long-term capacity building, joint production and the development of defence technology.
What has made the deal stand out is PowerAas’s merger with Aureus Greenway Holdings, a company in which Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump hold stakes through the investment fund American Ventures. That connection has given the agreement political and media significance in addition to its military dimension.
The development comes as relations between Washington and Islamabad have shown signs of improvement after several years of tension. The original text also notes that, in terms of political sensitivity, the case recalls past controversies over Hunter Biden’s activities at Burisma in Ukraine.
Rawalpindi, the city where the Pakistan Army headquarters is based, is one of the country’s main military decision-making centres, and any defence-related meeting there usually has wider political and security repercussions across the region.
