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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Pakistan is looking to enhance defense cooperation with Baghdad, its minister for defense production told Rudaw.
Zubaida Jalal met with Iraqi President Barham Salih on Tuesday, as part of a three-day visit to Baghdad.
"Pakistan is looking towards collaboration and cooperation specifically with the Ministry of Defense in defense production," Jalal told Rudaw on Tuesday.
She added that Pakistan and Iraq share much in common, including the war on terror.
Pakistan is willing to "strengthen" Iraq's defense industry, she said.
"The other area that we discussed was strengthening the industry of Iraq itself, which has decreased," she said.
President Salih "spoke of the importance of promoting bilateral cooperation between Iraq and Pakistan in the defense sector," the presidency said in a statement.
"Both countries would benefit from the shared expertise of their military institutions," the presidency quoted Salih as saying.
Relations between the US and Pakistan under Trump deteriorated after the latter began taking a hard line on Afghanistan.
Trump had been accusing Pakistan of allegedly offering “little help” in hunting “terrorists” in neighboring Afghanistan. Islamabad had strongly dismissed Trump's accusations, labelling them as baseless.
Jalal hinted at Islamabad's stance on the new US administration under President Joe Biden.
"There is lots of hope," she said.
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