Defence minister holds bilateral talks, harps on technology transfer

File photo of The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi.

The Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen. Bashir Magashi, has said Nigeria is consolidating on its defence bilateral cooperation to guarantee sustainable transfer of technologies.

This he said was to support ongoing fight against security challenges bedeviling the country.

Magashi stated this when he hosted the High Commissioner of Pakistan, retired Maj.-Gen Muhammad Azam, Turkish Ambassador designate, Hidayet Bayrakar and Indian Defence Scoping Delegation on Friday in Abuja.

The Special Assistant to the minister on Media and Publicity, Mr Mohammad Abdulkadri, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The minister said the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Pakistan, needed to be consolidated on to fast track transfer of technology to Nigeria .

He said that such technologies would serve as force multipliers for national territorial defence capabilities to deal with insurgents and bandits in their enclaves.

According to the minister, Nigeria will consolidate on existing cooperation with other countries to boost the defence capabilities of its armed forces.

Ealier, the Pakistani envoy urged the minister to visit Pakistan on working tours of some installations, and arrays of modern technologies to be explored for possible technological transfer to Nigeria.

Azam pledged to share experience, intelligence and training in support of Nigeria, to deal with the lingering threats to nation’s sovereignty by non state actors.

Also, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, Bayrakar assured the minister of cooperation to strengthen diplomatic ties between the two countries.

According to the statement, the interface between Magashi and the delegation of Indian Defence Scoping led by retired Lt.-Gen. Vinod Khandere, has opened a new vista for robust bilateral military cooperation between Nigeria and India. (NAN)

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