Through a circulation summary, the Cabinet gave its seal of approval to sign the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, known as the CIS-MOA, between Pakistan and the U.S., The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
However, there was no official announcement from either side about the signing of the agreement. According to the report, Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb was approached but did not respond.
The development comes days after Pakistan and the U.S. agreed to further enhance their bilateral relations, including in the defence field, at a meeting between U.S. Central Command (Centcom) chief General Michael Erik Kurilla and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.
CIS-MOA is a foundational agreement that the U.S. signs with its allies and countries with which it wants to maintain close military and defence ties. It also provides legal cover to the U.S. Department of Defence for ensuring the sale of military equipment and hardware to other countries.
The signing of the CIS-MOA means that the two countries are keen to maintain the institutional mechanism.
The agreement, first signed between the Joint Staff Headquarters of Pakistan and the U.S. Department of Defence in October 2005 for 15 years, expired in 2020. The two sides have now renewed that arrangement which covers joint exercises, operations, training, basing and equipment.
The signing of the CIS-MOA indicates that the U.S. might sell some military hardware to Pakistan in coming years, a source in Washington was quoted as saying in the report.
However, a retired senior Army officer who previously dealt with the U.S. played down the development and said it was not easy for Pakistan to buy military hardware from the U.S. despite this agreement.
Source: www.thehindu.com
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