����ֱ��

ISLAMABAD: Azerbaijan has expressed a keen interest in learning the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) multi-domain air warfare to strengthen its defense capabilities, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday.

The statement came after a high-level Azerbaijan delegation, led by Deputy Minister and Director-General of Defense Agil Gurbanov, called on the PAF chief, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad.

The visit follows a four-day Pakistan-India military standoff in May, during which officials said the PAF successfully conducted multi-domain operations to down six Indian fighter jets, including the French-made Rafale jets. While India has acknowledged losses in the air, it has not specified the number of aircraft lost.

During Tuesday’s meeting in Islamabad, both sides engaged in extensive discussions and underscored a shared commitment to fostering defense collaboration in training, modernization and technical expertise, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.

Deputy Minister Gurbanov “conveyed Azerbaijan’s strong desire for collaboration across Multi-Domain Operations, noting that Pakistan Air Force’s rich operational experience provides a valuable model for Azerbaijan,” the ISPR said in a statement after the meeting.

“He added that his country is especially eager to learn PAF’s complete methodology of Multi Domain warfare to strengthen its own capabilities.”

The hour-long India-Pakistan fight, which took place in darkness, involved some 110 aircraft, experts estimate, making it the world’s largest air battle in decades.

Pakistan’s Chines-made J-10s shot down at least one Rafale, Reuters reported in May, citing US officials. Its downing surprised many in the military community and raised questions about the effectiveness of Western military hardware against untested Chinese alternatives.

Deputy Minister Gurbanov termed the PAF’s seamless integration of multi-domain operations a “hallmark of modern air warfare” and conveyed Azerbaijan’s “keen interest” in learning from PAF’s battle-proven experience. Underscoring the importance of joint training initiatives through bilateral exercises between the two air forces, the visiting dignitary emphasized that such cooperation would enhance shared learning, interoperability and professional excellence, according to the ISPR.

During the meeting, Air Chief Marshal Sidhu shared insight into the PAF’s various ongoing modernization projects, operational construct, force goals and plans for the force structure, with a focus on future warfare. He reiterated the PAF’s unwavering support to provide capacity-building assistance to the Azerbaijan Air Force in upgradation of its human resource, maintenance parameters and operational training.

“The dignitary reiterated Azerbaijan’s intent to revamp its entire training system, beginning from the academy level, and acknowledged Pakistan Air Force as a trusted partner in guiding this transformation,” the ISPR said.

“He expressed confidence that cooperation with PAF would significantly contribute to the modernization and professional growth of Azerbaijan Air Force.”

Pakistan and Azerbaijan maintain close brotherly, trade and defense ties. In July 2024, Azerbaijan announced a $2 billion investment in Pakistan during a visit by President Ilham Aliyev to Islamabad. In September last year, Pakistan signed a contract to supply JF-17 Block III fighter jets to Azerbaijan, marking the deepening of defense cooperation.

“The visit of the Azerbaijani defense delegation to Air Headquarters, Islamabad reflects the mutual commitment of Pakistan and Azerbaijan to further deepen their strategic partnership, while reinforcing the shared aspirations for regional peace, security and stability,” the ISPR added.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate on Tuesday approved amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) empowering security agencies to detain suspects of terrorism and other serious crimes for up to three months, a move the government says will help fight militancy and address the country’s longstanding issue of enforced disappearances.

The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the National Assembly last week, will now go to the president for assent before becoming law.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar defended the measure while speaking in parliament, saying it created a lawful framework for preventive detention that would strengthen counterterrorism operations.

“This will be a lawful process and there will be no enforced disappearances anymore,” Tarar told lawmakers, adding that the legislation was aimed at combating militancy and contained safeguards to prevent misuse.

Enforced disappearances have long been a contentious issue in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, the site of a decades-old separatist insurgency and where families and rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings. Authorities deny the allegations but the practice has remained a source of domestic and international criticism.

By creating a legal mechanism for short-term preventive detention, the government says the new law will replace illegal practices and address concerns raised by families of missing persons.

The amended law comes as Pakistan grapples with twin insurgencies: religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who operate mainly in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and ethno-nationalist Baloch separatists fighting against the state in southwestern Balochistan.

Pakistan became the world’s second-most affected by terrorist violence in 2024, with deaths rising 45 percent to 1,081, according to the Global Terrorism Index 2025.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS

The amendment allows the government, armed forces and civil armed forces to place terrorism suspects under preventive detention for up to 90 days, based on credible information or reasonable suspicion. Enforcement in provinces will require approval from respective governments, and detainees will have legal recourse through federal and provincial review boards made up of Supreme Court and high court judges.

The bill also gives legal cover to joint interrogation teams (JITs) comprising officials from multiple law enforcement and intelligence agencies, with the aim of making operations more effective.

Opposition parties, including jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), strongly opposed the amendment in the Senate, warning that it could be misused against government critics.

“The amendment undermines constitutional freedoms,” PTI Senator Ali Zafar told Arab News, citing Articles 9, 10A and 19 of the Constitution, which guarantee security of person, fair trial and freedom of speech.

“While we must protect lives from terrorism, we also have to safeguard constitutional rights, without which Pakistan cannot be called a democracy,” Zafar said. “Counterterrorism does not mean counter-democracy. The law must be targeted, precise and just.”

Legal expert Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed said the effect of the new law would depend on whether it truly did away with the practice of enforced disappearances.

“If the amended law means that security and law enforcement agencies will now only detain people, then it could have a net positive effect,” he told Arab News.

“If, on the other hand, it merely means yet another legal method … while enforced disappearances continue unabated side by side, then obviously it will only be another tool of repression.”