Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on Wednesday that several countries were “actively” engaged in talks with Pakistan for its fighter jets.

In recent weeks, reports had surfaced of Pakistan being in talks with several friendly countries for a deal on the JF-17, a light combat aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China and produced in Pakistan.

Addressing a federal cabinet meeting, PM Shehbaz recalled Pakistan’s victory in a war last year — ostensibly a reference to the four-day military conflict with India in May 2025 — and said the demand for Pakistan’s fighter jets had increased since then.

“There are several countries that are actively engaged in talks with Pakistan on this, and this will boost our defence production and benefit our economy,” the premier added.

Earlier, Defence Production Minister Raza Hayat Harraj also told BBC Urdu that Pakistan is engaged in discussions with “multiple” countries for the sale of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets.

“These negotiations are taking place and they take some time. Many countries have shown interest in these aircraft,” the minister was quoted as saying in an interview with BBC Urdu, published on Tuesday.

“I cannot take the name of any country. Neither can I tell on what level our negotiations are with any country,” he told the British broadcaster.

“When these jets are exported, then the world will know which countries have bought them,” the report quoted him as saying.

He stressed that such matters were a country’s “jealously guarded secrets”.

Harraj further said, “Firstly, we must ensure that we only sell [JF-17s] to those who are our friendly countries. So they are not used against us.”

He added that China is on board whenever Pakistan signs such a deal with any country.

The defence production minister highlighted that the jets were battle-tested during the four-day conflict with India last year: “The entire world’s air forces saw these jets’ performance during that time and praised it.”

The minister termed the price of the jet “an important” aspect, detailing that while the average value of such planes around the world was $250-350 million, the JF-17 Thunder was cheaper.

Asked about the exact value, he told BBC Urdu, “Its value is around $40-50m; this depends on the jet’s features, and the price can also be higher than this.”

When enquired about whether China also received a share from the sale, Harraj was quoted as saying, “A lot of matters are discussed on the table. China is definitely included in them; it should be and it is their right.”

‘Production capacity a secret’

On a question about Pakistan’s production capacity, especially considering the interest of several countries, the minister told BBC Urdu, “This is a question related to our national defence. These are our secrets, let them remain secrets.”

He stressed that producing such “state-of-the-art” jets was a time-consuming task.

According to the minister, “some portion of the jet is readied in Pakistan, and some portion is readied in China”.

Einar Tangen, a senior fellow at China’s Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), told BBC Urdu that “technology” involved in the jet was likely controlled by China. Therefore, any sale pact would be a joint agreement, with Beijing being a “senior partner”.

“China might even increase Pakistan’s defence production, but all this will be in Beijing’s control,” the expert was quoted as saying.

Earlier this month, the air chiefs of Pakistan and Bangladesh held detailed discussions on the “potential procurement” of JF-17s.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu also visited Iraq this week, where he met with the air chief, who expressed a “keen interest” in the fighter aircraft.

Recently, Reuters, citing two Pakistani sources, reported that Islamabad and Riyadh were in talks to convert about $2 billion of Saudi loans into a JF-17 deal.

Indonesia’s Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin also visited Pakistan last week, holding meetings with the army chief and ACM Sindhu. The military’s media wing said that the minister expressed Jakarta’s desire to further expand defence ties with Islamabad.

Defence cooperation with KSA, Turkiye

According to BBC Urdu, Harraj refrained from disclosing details about the Pak-Saudi defence pact signed in September 2025.

“This is a defence agreement between the field marshal, the prime minister and the Saudi government. I cannot tell any more than this,” he explained.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Turkiye was seeking to join the pact.

“From a strategic point of view, Turkiye, China, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan are close friendly countries of Pakistan, and there is a close relationship with them in terms of strategic policy.”