The new Pakistan-Somalia defence cooperation is not just about patrol boats or classroom courses. It is designed to reach into the top tier of military education where doctrines are written and command culture is formed. When officers study up to staff and war college level in another country they absorb its operational habits and its way of planning. That kind of influence often outlasts any single contract or equipment line.
Pakistan runs long standing institutions that host foreign officers such as the Command and Staff College at Quetta and the National Defence University at Islamabad. This pipeline is a powerful lever for shaping the next decade of Somali military leadership.
What Mogadishu approved on 28 August
Somalia’s Council of Ministers approved defence MoUs with Pakistan along with Jordan and Qatar on 28 August 2025.
The official readouts frame these as capacity building partnerships for training, resource sharing and modernisation of the forces. The approval was given at a weekly cabinet meeting chaired by the acting prime minister. This is now the authoritative baseline for any discussion on scope and intent.
From basic soldiering to high command
Reports around the MoU indicates a wide spectrum of training for Somali personnel. It ranges from basic and specialised courses to higher command education in Pakistan’s staff and war colleges. Such instruction is not only about tactics. It embeds doctrine and planning norms that guide operations for years.
Pakistan also advertises experience in counter terror and UN peacekeeping which are part of the proposed training menu. Even if the public text of the MoU is not yet released, this pattern is consistent with Pakistan’s long record of hosting allied officers across its colleges.
The coastline piece
Somalia’s navy sits on one of the most contested sea lanes with periodic spikes in piracy and maritime crime. The MoU path envisions Pakistani technical assistance for vessel upkeep, help with new naval units and instruction for patrols and anti-piracy operations. That sits within a wider maritime picture where international alerts have tracked a resurgence of incidents since 2024 and into 2025. If Pakistan becomes a regular partner on maintenance schedules and patrol planning, it will gain day to day influence over how Somalia secures its waters.
Annual oversight through a committee: A Joint Defence Cooperation Committee is expected to oversee implementation each year. The idea of an annual committee may sound procedural, yet it is the point where partners can nudge priorities and budgets. Open reports on the Pakistan-Somalia file note this yearly review mechanism even as the full MoU is not public. For a force still rebuilding institutions, an annual external check in can evolve from coordination to quiet steering.
The Turkey factor and regional context
Somalia already hosts a deep Turkish military presence. Camp Turksom in Mogadishu has trained thousands of Somali soldiers and Turkey has stepped up maritime and training support through 2024 and 2025. Any Pakistani training push will operate alongside this footprint. That opens space for trilateral activity as well as competition over curricula and procurement pathways. It also situates Somalia within a crowded security marketplace across the Horn.
Benefits that come with strings
For Somalia the near term gains are clear. More instructors more courses more spares and more structure. Modernisation promises and access to allied schools can professionalise a force that needs depth. The risks lie in dependence on external syllabi and supply chains. Once cohorts of officers build careers on Pakistani schooling and kit the incentives tilt toward keeping that pipeline open even if national priorities shift. The annual committee adds one more channel through which outside partners shape choices.
The real gambit
This is why the heart of the matter is training up to the staff and war college tier rather than ships or small arms. From how battalions write operations orders to how headquarters think about joint plans, doctrine flows from the schools. Staff College to coastline becomes a single arc. If Mogadishu manages the partnership with diversified sources of training and clear guardrails, the MoU can lift standards without diluting autonomy. If not, it will lock in habits and dependencies that are hard to unwind. (JKNS)