Yet there was Elon Musk, sitting in on a conversation between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump, about one of the most pressing crises on the global stage right now - Iran's military control over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that keeps oil and gas moving across the globe.

Imran Khan is in jail along with his wife Bushra Bibi serving prison terms in corruption cases related to a property trust and alleged acquisition of luxury gifts. In December 2024, both were given fresh sentences in another case, extending their time in jail.Bibi has been lodged in Adiala Jail since January. Khan has been in prison since August 2023 after being removed from office through a parliamentary motion. Amid concerns over his health, he was taken earlier this week for treatment for vision loss in his right eye and later shifted back to Adiala Jail. His party has raised concerns about the treatment being carried out without the presence of his family and personal doctors. His legal team has said he has lost nearly 85 per cent vision in his right eye.

According to a report in The Times Imran Khan's sons Sulaiman Isa and Kasim revealed in a conversation with former England captain Mike Atherton that they spoke to their father for the first time since January during a call last weekend. The conversation lasted around 28 minutes, and his sons said that his resolve remains strong.

'I'm doing OK - Imran

"We asked how he is physically, but he's quite dismissive of that stuff. He said, 'I'm doing OK,' and he said his eyesight is getting a little better, so I took that as a positive. He was especially concerned this time about his wife; apparently her conditions are just as bad as his. He said they know they are never going to break him and he feels that he can handle anything, but when family and other people are involved, it gets tougher, what they [the authorities] fear, I think, is public attention; they just want to keep everything quiet - keep them silently hemmed in and slowly whittle away any kind of strength from the movement. You can see that in their petty tactics when people challenge the conditions Imran is in. They try to silently remove small liberties, like not allowing new books or turning off the power in the cell" Kasim said.

Imran khan has been practicing the meditation in Jail, which has kept him mentally strong, "He's come so far mentally and spiritually that I think, in his mind, he sees this as a trial he has to go through. I don't think he's affected the way he would have been even, say, ten years ago. He's in a place where he thinks that if it has happened this way, then that is how it has to happen - despite how harsh and brutal the conditions are and how detrimental they are to his physical well-being," Kasim added.

"There would be these blackouts. He'd say the first two days were brutal, but after that he just got into this kind of meditative state and learned how to meditate and go inside himself. Funnily enough, these torture tactics have taught him how to stay in there for longer."

Imran's sons have not seen their father since 2022. They are still waiting for visas to go to Pakistan. "He's already had a few close shaves, like when he was shot a few years ago. I wouldn't say you ever get used to it, but you build a bit of a thick skin for that kind of thing. I wouldn't say we've been preparing for it, but I know this is his passion and he has said publicly that he'd rather die in prison than walk away from his principles," Sulaiman told Atherton.

“I know this is his passion… he has said publicly that he’d rather die in prison than walk away from his principles,” he added.

Imran Alleges ‘Inhumane Treatment’ of Bushra Bibi in Prison

Imran Khan has also alleged that his wife Bushra Bibi is facing "inhumane treatment" in prison and claimed that authorities are using her to "blackmail" him.

"The judges in this country should be ashamed of themselves. Time and again we have gone to the judiciary, but they have sold their souls for personal gain," Imran said in the statement, as reported in The Independent.

"They know they cannot break me, so they turn to my wife. How can they allow this inhumane treatment of Bushra Bibi, simply to blackmail me?"

Addressing Musk directly, Goldsmith said Khan has been held for 22 months in what she described as "brutal solitary confinement" as a political prisoner following his removal from office in 2022.

Goldsmith said their two sons have not seen their father during this period, have not spoken to him for months, and are barred from even sending letters. She also claimed that Khan's name has been effectively erased from Pakistani television and radio, making X "the only independent platform" left to highlight what she called a grave injustice.

In a detailed post, Goldsmith alleged that X itself is now limiting that visibility. Citing findings by Grok, X's own AI tool, she claimed her account has been subjected to "secret throttling", with posts about Khan's jail conditions and his sons' access to him being algorithmically hidden. "You promised free speech, not speech but no one hears it," she wrote, urging Musk to intervene and restore her account's reach.

Imran Khan, the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been in custody since August 2023 following his conviction in multiple cases after his removal from office in 2022.

CLAIMS OF ALGORITHMIC SUPPRESSION

Goldsmith said Grok's analysis of her account showed a dramatic collapse in visibility despite her following of over 3.5 million users. According to the data she cited, her posts averaged between 400 and 900 million impressions per month through 2023 and early 2024. In contrast, she claimed her total impressions across 2025 stood at just 28.6 million — a drop of nearly 97 per cent.

She pointed to May 2025 as a key moment, saying one of her posts briefly crossed four million impressions on the day Pakistan's ban on X was lifted, before visibility "instantly collapsed to near zero" again. Goldsmith alleged that Grok attributed this suppression to pressure from Pakistani authorities, who she claimed had prioritised monitoring criticism from Khan's immediate family.

FAMILY PROTESTS OUTSIDE ADIALA JAIL

Goldsmith's appeal comes amid renewed protests by Khan's family and supporters over his detention. Earlier this week, his sister Aleema Khan accused authorities of subjecting him to torture and keeping him in "illegal isolation" at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Speaking outside the prison earlier this week, Aleema said family members had been visiting the jail every week for the past eight months but were consistently denied permission to meet him. "They are torturing him. He has been kept in illegal isolation. They should end this torture against Imran Khan," she said.

Her remarks came as PTI supporters gathered outside the jail to protest Khan's detention conditions, raising concerns over his health and security. Police deployed heavy security around the prison as authorities monitored the demonstration amid rising tensions between the government and PTI supporters.

INETERNATIONAL SCRUTINY OVER DETENTION

Imran Khan has been in custody since August 2023 following convictions in multiple cases after his ouster from office in 2022. His detention has drawn criticism from rights groups and international observers. In July last year, a panel of UN human rights experts said Khan's detention was arbitrary and violated international law, asserting it appeared aimed at preventing him from returning to political office, a finding rejected by the Pakistani government.

What makes the contest in Bogura 6 especially interesting is that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader is being confronted with the legacy of his father — Sheikh Ziaur Rahman.

Tarique Rahman is the son of Ziaur Rahman, a person who has a contested legacy. While some perceive Ziaur, the founder of the BNP, as a dictator, others see him as the key military officer who secured Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan.

Abdullah-al-Waki, Tarique's rival in Bogura 6 of the students-led National Citizens Party (NCP), has accused the BNP of straying away from the Ziaur Rahman-shown path.

"I cast the first vote of my life for Ziaur Rahman," Waki said in an interview with The Business Standard, the Dhaka-based newspaper. Projecting himself as the true inheritor of Ziaur's politics, Waki is using the Bangladeshi leader's legacy to confront his son.

Ziaur Rahman is a former President of Bangladesh, and was killed in an attempted coup in 1981.

Tarique is the Acting Chairman of the BNP, which surveys show as the party set to win the election in February. With mother and former PM Khaleda Zia on ventilator support, Tarique is the most likely to be the PM if the BNP goes on to win the election.

Over 47% of those surveyed by leading Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo said they believed Tarique Rahman would most likely become the PM.

But Tarique's rival Waki is trying to steal his thunder.

"Ziaur Rahman is not just the property of the BNP, but he's also the Father of the Nation," said Waki in the interview. "The BNP abandoned the ideals of Ziaur the day it entered into an alliance with the Awami League and adopted the same legacy governing systems," he added. In the 1980s, Khaleda Zia-led BNP and Sheikh Hasina's Awami League coordinated

Waki has now entered the political ring by declaring himself and his NCP Party the true inheritors of Ziaur Rahman's legacy, and casting the BNP as an "impostor".

Other than Waki, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Shafiqur Rahman is contesting from Bogura 6 in northern Bangladesh.

WHO WAS ZIAUR RAHMAN AND HOW HE FORMED THE BNP

Before 1971, Ziaur Rahman was a respected officer in the Pakistan Army and had earned the country's second-highest military decoration for his role in the 1965 India-Pakistan War.

In 1971, Ziaur served as the second in command of the Eighth Bengal Regiment. After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and taken to West Pakistan, Ziaur quickly defected to support the liberation struggle in East Pakistan.

He announced the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh on March 27, 1971, and went on to play a key role in the war as a commander in the Mukti Bahini.

After independence, Bangladesh went through years of political turmoil that peaked with the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975. Ziaur was placed under house arrest but was later freed and made Chief Martial Law Administrator. In 1977, he became the President of Bangladesh and one of his first steps was to lift martial law.

He won the 1978 presidential election by a large margin and the same year founded the BNP to stabilise the country under a platform of Bengali nationalism. The party formed the government after the 1979 election.

Ziaur was often described as the firm leader the country needed, and he ended the one-party system of Mujibur Rahman, allowed the Awami League to return to politics and introduced broad political and economic reforms.

Some of his decisions created strong opposition within the armed forces, especially his rehabilitation of the men accused of war crimes in 1971 and involvement in the plot against Mujibur Rahman. This led to Ziaur's assassination by veterans of the Mukti Bahini on May 30, 1981.

WHAT'S THE STATUS OF BNP, KHALEDA ZIA, TARIQUE

After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his wife Khaleda Zia became the de facto leader of the BNP. She played an important role in opposing the one-party rule imposed by General Mohammed Ershad, who had overthrown the elected government in 1982.

The BNP later joined hands with its long-time rival, the Awami League, and after the mass uprising of 1990, and the election in 1991, Khaleda Zia became Prime Minister. Between 1991 and 2014, Khaleda and the BNP won three national elections, often in alliance, including with the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

Khaleda Zia is now critically ill and on life support, and the BNP says that Tarique will soon be returning from London, where he has been since 2007, to lead the party. That he is contesting from BNP stronghold Bogura 6, a seat that his mother Khaleda Zia won, is a signal of him taking over the mantle.

"A year or a little over a year ago, I said that the upcoming election is not what many are thinking it will be. Today, slowly, what I said is being proven true. If we still do not get serious, the existence and sovereignty of this country will be at risk. Only democracy can save it," Tarique said, addressing BNP workers on Thursday, after the election date was declared. He added that only the BNP could strengthen democracy in Bangladesh.

His rival, Abdullah-al-Waki, differs. In his interview with The Business Standard of Bangladesh, Waki says Ziaur Rahman is long gone, and the present party is a very different creature.

Bogura 6 is a long-time BNP stronghold. But Abdullah-al-Waki of the NCP is taking him and the BNP using the legacy of Ziaur Rahman. The election in Bangladesh will be a litmus test for the nation, and the Bogura 6 fight will be keenly watched.

Zohran Mamdani, Aftab Pureval and Ghazala Firdaus Hashmi were among the top Democrats who won high-stakes elections in New York City, Cincinnati and Virginia.

While Zohran Mamdani, who won the New York City mayoral election, was born to Indian-American parent Mira Nair, Hashmi was born in India. Pureval was born to a Punjabi father and a Tibetan refugee mother in Ohio.

Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is a distinguished filmmaker. His father, too, has ancestral connections to Gujarat. Zohran's father, Mahmood Mamdani, is an anthropology professor at Columbia University.

These wins come at a moment when Democrats had suffered multiple setbacks; thus, the victories carry extra weight both symbolically and practically.

While President Trump did not personally contest each race, his influence and endorsements were at play. In New York, Trump had endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and floated threats about withholding federal funding if Mamdani won. Cuomo was fighting the polls as an independent.

In Virginia, the 61-year-old Hashmi won election as Lieutenant Governor, becoming the first Indian-American and first Muslim ever to hold statewide office in the Commonwealth. She defeated Republican John Reid, a Richmond broadcaster.

Cincinnati Mayor Pureval has secured a second term, defeating Trump's Republican rival Cory Bowman, who is US Vice President JD Vance's half-brother.

Majorities of voters disapprove of Trump's job performance. In many states, including Virginia, more than half of the electorate saw their vote as sending a message to Trump, according to a report in CNN. It appears that voters have disapproved of Trump's tariff and immigration policies.

For now, the takeaway is clear: three Muslim candidates of Indian descent helped flip the narrative and delivered a blow to Republican momentum. How this will shape the lead-in to the 2026 mid-term and 2028 presidential contests remains to be seen.

WHO IS ZOHRAN MAMDANI?

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, to parents with roots in India, and became an American citizen in 2018 shortly after graduating from college.

He spent part of his childhood with his family in Cape Town, South Africa, before relocating to New York City at the age of 7.

Earlier this year, Mamdani tied the knot with Rama Duwaji, a Syrian-American artist, in a ceremony at the City Clerk's Office. The two met through the dating app Hinge and now reside together in Astoria, Queens.

The 34-year-old Mamdani, a state assemblyman and self-described democratic socialist, had won the Democratic primary in June, defeating Andrew Cuomo.

He will take charge on January 1.

WHO IS GHAZALA HASHMI?

Ghazala Hashmi has become Virginia's first Indian-American, Muslim Lieutenant Governor. She defeated Republican John Reid, a Richmond broadcaster.

Hashmi, currently a state senator representing a district south of Richmond, emerged as a prominent figure in Virginia politics after first winning election in 2019 by flipping a Republican-held seat.

Her campaign's broad appeal among South Asians, including people of Pakistani origin, echoed across sections of migrants.

Ghazala Hashmi was born in 1964 in Hyderabad, with ancestral roots in Karachi, now in Pakistan.

Hashmi moved to the US from India as a young girl with her family when she was 4.

She was raised in a small town in Georgia and saw first-hand how community-building and open dialogue can bridge cultural and socioeconomic divisions, uniting people from all walks of life.

She holds a BA in English from Georgia Southern University and a PhD from Emory University.

WHO IS AFTAB PUREVAL, WHO BECAME CINCINNATI MAYOR FOR SECOND TIME?

Indian-origin Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, 43, made history as the city's first Asian-American mayor when he was elected in 2021. Although the mayor's office is officially non-partisan, Pureval is aligned with the Democratic Party, reports the Associated Press.

Pureval was born to migrant parents in Ohio. His father was from Punjab. From a young age, he was politically inclined, winning his first-ever student election in class 8 under the slogan "Big, Brown and Beautiful".

After graduating from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Pureval moved to Washington, DC, in 2008, where he worked at a law firm. After four years, he returned to Hamilton County, Ohio, to serve as a special assistant US attorney with the Department of Justice.

In 2013, he joined Ohio-based consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble as legal counsel, where he worked as the global brand attorney for popular skincare brand Olay. Three years later, he left the company to formally launch his political career.

Former US President Barack Obama took to X to congratulate Democratic winners.

"Congratulations to all the Democratic candidates who won tonight. It's a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win. We've still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter," Democratic leader Obama said in a post on X.

becoming the first Indian person to hold statewide office in the commonwealth and the first Muslim woman to win a statewide race in the U.S. 

Hashmi led Reid throughout the general election, but polling in the race narrowed considerably in the run-up to Election Day. 

Hashmi narrowly won her Democratic primary in June, defeating former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and state Sen. Aaron Rouse. 

Hashmi hails from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and had the support of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) in the primary. 

• Mamdani's mother, Mira Nair, is a renowned filmmaker known for her impactful films, while his father, Mahmood Mamdani, is a prominent political scholar with significant contributions to post-colonial studies.
• Both parents have faced criticism for their political views, particularly regarding Israel, which has also affected Zohran's campaign.

New Yorkers went to the mayoral election Tuesday with an unlikely frontrunner on the ballot: a Democratic Socialist whose rise from community organiser to likely next mayor has upended many assumptions about politics in America.

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 34, defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a former Democrat running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Mamdani will enter office as the first Muslim mayor in the city’s history and one of its youngest, now set to run one of the largest and most diverse cities in the U.S.

The race was called by the Associated Press with roughly 75 percent of ballots counted.

Before addressing jubilant supporters in Brooklyn, Mamdani celebrated his victory with a video on X/Twitter that showed New York subway doors opening as a voice announced: “The next and last stop is City Hall.”

 

https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1985899742044262838

 

Mamdani was born in Kampala to Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani.

Who are Zohran Mamdani’s parents?

Nair was born in Rourkela in the eastern Indian state of Odisha in 1957. She studied sociology and went on to win a scholarship to Harvard University.

Nair’s breakthrough 1988 film Salaam Bombay! sprang from her experiences on the streets of Mumbai, home of the Indian film industry, and sought to put a spotlight on the lives of the city’s homeless children.

“The biggest conviction stemmed from the life of these children. Their attitude was about grabbing life and enjoying, and that impresses me and inspires me even now,” Nair told Reuters in 2013. “They want to have a full life and there is no self-pity.”

From left: Mira, Zohran Mamdani, his wife Rama Duwaji, and Mahmood in Long Island (Getty)

Salaam Bombay! won the Caméra d’Or at Cannes and received an Academy Award nomination.

In her career spanning over four decades, Nair has repeatedly turned to stories that traverse culture, migration and belonging, and spoken about her desire to tell stories from the margins.

“You know what is so startling, or not startling because I’m used to it now, is the ignorance that people here have of any other culture,” she told Believer in 2007.

“That ignorance, which is acceptable to have, coupled with a slight arrogance is a deadly combination, and sadly one encounters it a lot in America.”

Nair’s body of work spans continents and identities: from Mississippi Masala, which she describes as “a radical film” for centring a romance between a Black American man and an Indian-Ugandan woman at a time when such relationships were almost never shown on screen, to 2001’s Venice Golden Lion-winning ensemble drama Monsoon Wedding, which examines the clash between tradition and modernity inside a Delhi family.

She met Mahmood Mamdani, a political scientist, in 1989 while she was in Uganda doing research for Mississippi Masala, which was released two years later starring Denzel Washington and Sarita Choudhury.

Nair meant to interview the scholar whose book, From Citizen to Refugee, she had while researching Ugandan expatriation.

They fell in love and married in 1991. Their son, the future mayoral nominee, was born later the same year.

Zohran was born in Kampala in Uganda (Reuters)

Mahmood Mamdani was born in 1946 in Mumbai and raised in Kampala, in the Indian diaspora community. In 1972, he was among the estimated 60,000 Asians expelled by dictator Idi Amin. “I was in my mid-twenties in November 1972 when I left Uganda on the orders of Idi Amin,” he wrote in the London Review of Books in 2022.

He completed his PhD from Harvard University in 1974, beginning an academic career that would take him to universities in Tanzania, South Africa, and the U.S.. He now holds the Herbert Lehman Professorship of Government at Columbia University in New York.

From 2010 to 2022, he directed the Makerere Institute of Social Research in Kampala, which he rebuilt into a centre for post-colonial scholarship.

He is regarded as one of Africa’s most influential scholars of colonialism and political violence. His 1996 book Citizen and Subject introduced his influential concept of the “bifurcated state,” the idea that colonial rulers governed African populations through a system of direct urban rule and indirect rural chiefs, a structure he argues recombined in post-colonial governance.

Both Nair and Mahmood Mamdani have come under attack during the campaign, especially from pro-Israel advocacy groups. The anonymous organisation Canary Mission, which publishes dossiers on academics and activists it labels “anti-Israel”, has listed both on its website.

In 2013, Nair publicly declined an invitation to the Haifa International Film Festival, saying she would not travel to Israel “until apartheid is over”. “I will go to Israel when the walls come down,” she said, “when the state does not privilege one religion over another.”

Mahmood Mamdani took part in campus teach-ins during the 2024 protests against the Israeli war on Gaza and accused his university of abandoning due process when it suspended student demonstrators. “There has been no due process on the Columbia campus,” he told reporters at the time.

His writing has also been cited in the attacks against him. He has argued in lectures and books that Zionism functions as a form of settler-colonial power, a position that has led pro-Israel commentators to accuse him of extremism, even though his work is assigned in university courses worldwide.

Zohran Mamdani has faced similar criticism for his own statements on Israel and Gaza, but has rejected accusations of antisemitism.

The question of how much the politics of his parents have shaped his own has been a recurring line of inquiry on the campaign trail.

“He’s his own person,” Mahmood Mamdani said, according to The New York Times. “Now, of course what we do as his parents is part of the environment in which he grew up, and he couldn’t help but engage with it. That doesn’t mean anything is reflected back on us.”

“I don’t agree!” Nair said. “Of course the world we live in, and what we write and film and think about, is the world that Zohran has very much absorbed.”

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.

Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, etching his place in history as the city's first Muslim mayor, the first of South Asian heritage and the first born in Africa. 

He will also become the city's youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on January 1.

In his first X post after his victory, Mamdani posted a video showing a New York subway train opening at City Hall, with the text "Zohran For New York City" emerging on the wall. In the background, the announcement, "The next and last stop is City Hall," can be heard. City Hall is the place where the mayor's office is located.

https://twitter.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1985899742044262838

About Zohran Mamdani

Born on October 18, 1991, in Kampala, Uganda, Mamdani is the son of Ugandan scholar Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.

His early years took him from Uganda to South Africa and then to New York City, where he attended the Bank Street School for Children and Bronx High School of Science. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 2014 with a degree in Africana Studies, where he co-founded a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

Mamdani harnessed enthusiasm and social media savvy to become a rising star in the party, but his candidacy sparked an ideological divide. Trump, who has long inserted himself in the politics of his hometown, followed the race closely, dismissing Mamdani by falsely labelling him as a communist.

But the 34-year-old state lawmaker's grassroots campaign focused on making the city more affordable, proposing a rent freeze on stabilised units, construction of 2 lakh public housing units, universal childcare, tuition-free education, fare-free buses, and city-run grocery stores, making him a favourite of the masses.

He also backed raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour by 2030, funded through higher taxes on millionaires and corporations. Mamdani also called for shifting police resources toward community services and expanding public transit and bike infrastructure.

Mamdani's unlikely rise gives credence to Democrats who have urged the party to embrace more progressive, left-wing candidates instead of rallying behind centrists in hopes of winning back swing voters who have abandoned the party.

He has already faced scrutiny from national Republicans, including President Trump, who have eagerly cast him as a threat and the face of what they say is a more radical Democratic Party. Now, there's the question of how he will deal with Trump, who threatened to take over the city and to arrest and deport Mamdani if he won.

Mamdani, who was criticised throughout the campaign for his thin resume, will now have to begin staffing his incoming administration before taking office next year and game out how he plans to accomplish the ambitious but polarising agenda that drove him to victory.

The contest in New York drove the biggest turnout in a mayoral race in more than 50 years, with more than 2 million New Yorkers casting ballots, according to the city's Board of Elections.

Turkey has provided key technology to Pakistan, enabling local construction of the corvette, fostering defense collaboration between the two nations.The Khaibar features a length of ~108.2 m, a top speed of ~30 knots, and is equipped for multi-mission roles including anti-surface and anti-air warfare.

Turkey and Pakistan have long cooperated on defense issues, and Pakistan has sought Turkish help in developing its own indigenous defense sector.

Pakistan is rapidly building its navy, which has for years lagged the Indian Navy, Pakistan’s primary adversary on the world stage. Enter the Turkish-built MILGEM/Babur-class corvettes—and specifically the Pakistani Naval Ship Khaibar, which is set for induction into the Pakistani fleet in the coming weeks.

The Khaibar is a Pakistan-customized variant of Turkey’s MILGEM design built by the Istanbul Naval Shipyard. Turkey transferred key technology to Pakistan as part of their contract with Pakistan to allow for the Pakistanis to build the warship in their own territory. 

It is part of a larger set of sales to Pakistan by Turkey’s arms export industry, which has long viewed its fellow Muslim nation as a primary client in the defense trade. This relationship both enhances Pakistan’s capabilities while giving Turkey’s growing arms industry a much-needed boost.

And don’t forget about the way that this increases the influence of Turkey over Pakistan.

The MILGEM Corvette’s Specifications

As a multi-mission corvette, the warship is designed for anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine warfare, as well as patrol and escorting, maritime security, and power projection into places like the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. The Pakistani variant, unlike the Turkish original, focuses strongly on standoff anti-ship strike capabilities to provide a credible deterrent against their Indian rivals.

Toward a Competitive Pakistani Navy? 

Khaibar is the second warship of her class to be launched and to have successfully completed sea trials ahead of induction. Ever since the Indo-Pakistani War, in which the Pakistanis performed better than they were expected to, Islamabad has been pushing hard for rapid modernization to occur. 

Building off the momentum of their successes in defending against India in that conflict earlier this year, Pakistan wants to ensure it can credibly compete with India in all domains—not just in the air.

The latest figures from Polymarket, a decentralized prediction platform, show Mamdani with a 44 percent chance of capturing between 50 and 60 percent of the vote. Such a result would mark a commanding lead over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who trails significantly in both betting markets and traditional polls. However, while the numbers suggest Mamdani could win comfortably, experts caution that a true 'landslide' may still be out of reach based on current polling trends.