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This emerging alliance, sources caution, could jeopardise India’s maritime security in the Red Sea, where a strong Brotherhood presence now threatens critical shipping lanes.
Pakistan has finalised a $1.5 billion arms deal with Sudan. (AI generated image)
Pakistan has finalised a $1.5 billion arms deal with Sudan’s military junta, potentially transforming Africa’s Red Sea corridor into a new battleground for Islamist Axis. The deal, concluded in mid-August 2025, involves the supply of advanced weaponry to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), a regime closely linked to Muslim Brotherhood-aligned militias.
A high-level Sudanese delegation led by Lt Gen Pilot Al-Tahir Mohammed Al-Awad Al-Amin, Commander of the Sudanese Air Force, along with SAF’s air defence chief and officials from the state-owned Military Industry Corporation, visited Islamabad earlier this month. The delegation held direct talks with Pakistan’s defence minister and air force chief, culminating in a contract covering 10 K-8 Karakorum light attack aircraft, MiG-21 engines, multiple drone systems (Shahpar-II, YIHA-III, MR-10K, Ababeel-5), 150 Mohafiz armored personnel carriers, and Chinese-origin HQ-6/9 air defense systems.
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Top intelligence sources indicate that while most of the high-end systems originate in China, they are being routed through Pakistan, making Islamabad a front-end supplier for Beijing’s growing African strategy. “Pakistan is effectively acting as China’s proxy in Sudan,” sources said, adding that payment networks facilitated by Turkey and Qatar are helping Sudan circumvent US and EU sanctions.
Sources further warned that these supplies are strengthening brotherhood-linked brigades like Al-Baraa ibn Malik, which play a central role in the SAF’s ongoing conflict. “This mirrors Pakistan’s Afghanistan playbook — publicly calling for ceasefires while covertly fueling one side,” an intelligence official noted.
The arms deal also aligns with Turkey’s pro-Brotherhood policy in Africa, reinforcing what one source described as a “Pakistan–Turkey–Qatar–China Islamist axis” extending from South Asia to the Horn of Africa. This emerging alliance, intelligence sources caution, could jeopardise India’s maritime security in the Red Sea, where a strong Brotherhood presence now threatens critical shipping lanes.
Beyond geopolitics, Pakistan’s domestic economic crisis is also driving this push. With dwindling foreign reserves and mounting IMF pressures, arms exports to sanction-hit states like Sudan provide hard currency inflows outside Western financial oversight. “Sudan is a captive market — isolated by sanctions and desperate for arms. Pakistan is exploiting that at premium rates,” sources stated.
Strategically, Sudan offers Islamabad a gateway into African defence markets including Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa, while giving it diplomatic leverage in OIC and UN forums, sources added.
“This deal is not just about Sudan — it’s about reshaping the balance of power across the Red Sea and beyond,” top intelligence sources said.
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Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
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