Islamabad, Jan 8 (.) Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, making some very fantastical claims, has said that defence orders for the country’s JF-17 fighter jets have surged to such an extent, in the aftermath of its brief military standoff with India in May last year, that this surge can potentially end its dependence on foreign loans.
Speaking to Geo News earlier this week, Asif said “Right now, the number of orders we are receiving after reaching this point is significant because our aircraft have been tested,” he said. “It is possible that after six months we may not even need the IMF.”
Asif further claimed that Pakistan had efficiently displayed its “resolve and military effectiveness” in May during Operation Sindoor, which are tall claims as Pakistan had lost over 20% of its airforce infrastructure to Indian Air Force attacks, and suffered a massive loss amounting to $1.5 billion.
During the three-day skirmish, Indian Armed Forces had carried out large scale military strikes on nine terror camps in Pakistan and POK in May 2025 in the aftermath of the April 22, Pahalgam terror attack.
While Indian missiles had showed extreme precision in hitting their targets, bypassing Pakistan’s Chinese-made air defence systems, and hitting all designated targets, which included 11 PAF airbases, which New Delhi showed proof of via satellite images, Islamabad made several unverified claims of having downed multiple Indian jets, including French-made Rafale aircraft, and India’s indigenous Tejas LCA.
Asif’s remarks came amid the Bangladesh Air Force chief’s recent meeting with his Pakistani counterpart to discuss a possible JF-17 purchase, with Islamabad also reportedly being in talk with Saudi Arabia to convert about $2 billion of KSA loans into a JF-17 fighter jet deal, in a bid to ease its economic woes.
Asif’s claims came even as Islamabad is weighing various options to convince the IMF to allow relaxations in key macroeconomic and fiscal parameters for the 2026–27 budget, and seeking some relief from the global money lender’s strict conditions, while also privatising its international airline carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), just to avoid a sovereign default.
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