Claim: In a recent vlog, Journalist Umar Cheema claimed that Pakistan does not manufacture enough weapons to trade arms. According to Cheema, Pakistan limits its weapons sales to just four countries: Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, with no arms having been sold to Ukraine. He further noted that there is no transparent mechanism available to verify whether Pakistani-manufactured weapons have been sold to any particular country.
Fact: Pakistan sold arms to Ukraine through the USA’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). Documents detailing the procurement of 155mm artillery shells worth up to $364 million can be accessed through the United States Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS).
On 3 March 2025, journalist Umar Cheema published a vlog on YouTube in which he claimed that Pakistan has not sold any arms to Ukraine, even asserting that anyone claiming otherwise is lying. He stated that weapons manufactured in Pakistan were not sent to Ukraine. Cheema also claimed that there is no transparency regarding what weapons the US is procuring and from where, as no publicly accessible database contains this information. He further claimed that Pakistan only sells weapons to four countries – Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt and that they all sign an agreement which says they will not sell it forward.
Several government officials have also made the same claim in the last two years; on 18 September 2023, Pakistan’s Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Baloch issued a statement that said: “Pakistan maintains a policy of strict neutrality in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia and in that context, does not provide any arms and ammunition to them.”
Fact or Fiction?
Does Pakistan sell weapons to Ukraine?
Pakistan has indeed sold weapons not only to Ukraine but also to several other countries that Umar Cheema failed to mention. In fact, Pakistan enjoys favorable arms trade relationships with various countries, as will be detailed in the next section of this article.
In regards to Ukraine, a press release published on the official website of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, a document unclassified on 19 May 2023, shows a procurement list of arms and ammunition for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). One of these contracts for 155mm ammunition shows that contracts worth $364 million were awarded in August 2022.
A press release published on the official website of the Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, unclassified on 19 May 2023, shows a procurement list of arms and ammunition for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
Documents released by The United States Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) show that private military contractors, Global Military Products and Northrop Grumman collectively sold $364 million worth of 155-millimetre artillery shells, manufactured in Pakistan, to the US government. These documents were published in October 2023, as part of a detailed investigation by Soch Videos, a sister organisation of Soch Fact Check.
The FPDS is a database of all the procurement data relevant to the products coming into the country.
The Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) is a real-time, relational database that serves the government acquisition community as the authoritative source of contract information. It contains summary-level data used for policy and trend analysis. We found complete summaries for contracts with both contractors for 155mm ammunition, signed together on 17 August 2022. This is a publicly accessible database which clearly shows that these two contracts were used to acquire 155mm artillery shells from Pakistan.
Contract with Northrop Grumman Systems for 155mm artillery shells worth $131,212,000
Contract with Global Military Products for 155mm artillery shells worth $232,357,100
The Intercept also published an investigation in September 2023, asserting that Pakistan had sent weapons to Ukraine through private American military contractors like Global Military Products.
In a press briefing that took place on October 26 2023, after both investigations were published, a BBC Urdu journalist asked the FO spokesperson if the Foreign Office is aware that, “Pakistan’s artilleries were used after the start of Russo-Ukraine Conflict in 2022”. The spokesperson responded, “Regarding your first question, I will reiterate that Pakistan exports its armaments under strict protocols, which include end-user certificates. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Pakistan has not exported arms and ammunition to Ukraine. We do not have insight into the kind of armaments being used by either party in this conflict.”
Who else does Pakistan sell weapons to?
Cheema further alleged that Pakistan only sells weapons to four countries – Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. However, this is not true.
The Observatory of Economic Complexity notes in a report titled “Military Weapons in Pakistan” that the value of Pakistan’s military exports in 2023 was $338,000, making it the 55th largest exporter of military weapons in the world. It also notes that Pakistan’s biggest export market in 2023 was Nigeria, which bought Pakistani weapons worth up to $335,000.
According to a report by Reuters published on 26 September 2024, Pakistan signed a contract to sell JF-17 fighter jets to Azerbaijan. The article further notes that Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev was in Pakistan in July 2024 on a state visit where the two countries agreed to enhance cooperation in a number of areas, including defence.
Moreover, in November 2024, Pakistan hosted the International Defense Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS) exhibition, which has been held twice a year since General (retired) Pervez Musharraf launched the event in 2000. On the first day of the exhibition, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that even though Pakistan is exporting high-tech military products to over 60 countries, the volume of exports is not at par with its actual potential.
This further proves that the ammunition acquired from Pakistan was specifically sent to Ukraine through the US Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and that such a transfer could not have occurred without the knowledge of Pakistani authorities, which contradicts Umar Cheema’s assertions regarding Pakistani weapons not being present in Ukraine.
Virality
Umar Cheema’s vlog has received more than 34,000 views on YouTube. His vlog was also shared by several users on Facebook. Some of these posts can be found here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Umar Cheema made false claims in his vlog. Pakistani arms are being sent to Ukraine, as well as to several other countries.
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