By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s most senior military officer held a pair of high-level meetings in Rawalpindi on Monday, receiving Indonesia’s naval chief and Lebanon’s interior minister within hours of each other, in a further sign of Islamabad’s push to widen its defence and security partnerships across Asia and the Middle East.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff, first met Admiral Dr Muhammad Ali, head of the Indonesian navy, at the General Headquarters. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said the two men discussed matters of mutual interest, regional security and the prospects for deeper bilateral defence cooperation.
A statement issued afterwards said both sides had expressed satisfaction with the existing state of military-to-military relations and reaffirmed their intention to build further on that foundation, with particular emphasis on professional training, defence collaboration and joint exercises. Field Marshal Munir used the meeting to restate Pakistan’s commitment to ts “longstanding and brotherly” relationship with Indonesia, a bond he said was especially significant in the defence and security spheres. Admiral Ali, for his part, praised the professionalism of Pakistan’s armed forces and credited them with contributing to peace and stability across the region.
The visit was capped by a formal honour from the head of state. President Asif Ali Zardari conferred the Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on Admiral Ali during a ceremony at President House, one of Pakistan’s highest awards, given in recognition of what the Presidency called his contribution to promoting relations between the two countries’ navies. The ceremony drew a substantial turnout, including Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, along with parliamentarians and members of the diplomatic community.
In a separate meeting with the admiral, President Zardari described the relationship between Pakistan and Indonesia as enduring and fraternal, and pressed the case for closer cooperation between the two navies specifically. He pointed to what he called immense untapped potential in the blue economy and in the joint development of the maritime sector, arguing that this potential needed to be properly harnessed. The president also welcomed the Indonesian navy’s regular participation in exercises hosted by its Pakistani counterpart. Admiral Ali was accompanied to the meeting by Indonesia’s ambassador to Pakistan, Lieutenant General (retired) Chandra W. Sukotjo, with Admiral Ashraf and Senator Saleem Mandviwalla also in attendance.
The Indonesian admiral’s visit follows a meeting in January between Indonesia’s defence minister, Lieutenant General (retired) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, and Field Marshal Munir, at which Jakarta signalled its own desire to expand defence ties with Islamabad across several domains. Reuters has reported separately that Pakistan’s air force chief discussed the potential sale of JF-17 fighter jets, developed jointly by Pakistan and China, along with combat drones, during talks with Indonesian officials around the same time.
Later on Monday, Field Marshal Munir turned to a different corner of the world, receiving Lebanon’s Minister of Interior and Municipalities, Ahmad Al Hajjar, a retired brigadier general in Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, who was in Pakistan on a two-day visit. The ISPR said the pair exchanged views on matters of mutual interest, the shifting regional security landscape and the scope for strengthening bilateral ties in the security domain, with particular emphasis placed on deepening institutional links between the two countries’ security establishments.
Field Marshal Munir reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening its relationship with Lebanon and voiced a desire to expand cooperation further in areas of shared interest. Al Hajjar, in turn, praised Pakistan’s contribution to regional peace and stability, and acknowledged the professionalism and sacrifices of its armed forces in the fight against terrorism.
Monday’s meetings form part of a broader pattern of diplomatic outreach by Pakistan’s military leadership, which has stepped up engagement with regional and international partners since its four-day military confrontation with India in May 2025. Islamabad signed a trilateral defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye in August, and has been working to expand its arms exports more widely. The renewed push comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, which have added a further layer of uncertainty to the security calculus across the wider region.
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