A senior Somali defence delegation, led by Defence Minister H.E. Ambassador Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, visited Islamabad this week for talks with Pakistan’s top military leadership, highlighting the steadily growing defence relationship between the two countries.
According to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) directorate, the Somali delegation held separate meetings on August 5, 2026, with Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf at Naval Headquarters and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu at Air Headquarters in Islamabad.
At Naval Headquarters, discussions centred on regional maritime security, professional cooperation and avenues for deeper bilateral defence collaboration. Admiral Ashraf reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to further strengthening naval ties with Somalia.
The Air Headquarters meeting focused on institutional cooperation, training exchanges and capacity-building between the two air forces. Air Chief Marshal Sidhu briefed the visiting minister on Pakistan’s indigenous defence production progress and reaffirmed the Pakistan Air Force’s willingness to expand professional exchanges with the Somali Air Force.
Minister Fiqi, in turn, praised the Pakistan Navy’s contribution to regional maritime security and commended the professionalism and operational capability of the Pakistan Air Force.
The visit fits into a broader pattern of Pakistani defence diplomacy along the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden littoral, where Pakistan Navy assets have periodically taken part in multinational anti-piracy and maritime-security patrols. Somalia, which sits astride some of the busiest shipping lanes in the region, has been rebuilding its own naval and air capacity for years and has looked to a range of foreign partners for training and equipment support. Deeper cooperation with Pakistan gives Islamabad another point of engagement in East Africa, an area where several regional and global powers are already active in training and advising Somali security forces.