Organised in Karachi, the capital of Pakistan’s Sindh state, IDEAS Defence Exhibition witnessed a veiled competition between Turkey featuring the largest participation in scope and China, which sought benefits from time-honoured relations based on infrastructure.

Suppliers from the two countries not only competed for exhibition area or number of visitors; they also made huge efforts to develop relations. While contracts signed between China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Pakistan are underway, Turkey and China are still engaged in competition in the current market. For example, the Pakistani Navy held talks for TUSAŞ’s MALE (Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance) class ANKA-S UAV; while ASFAT made a proposal for the Navy’s submarine rescue ship. STM embarked on a promising work in cyber security training. Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) took advantage of having expertise in a field that Turkey lacks at the moment, thus offering its L-15 aircraft to the Pakistani Air Force’s Lead-in-Fighter-Trainer (LIFT) Program.