China Pakistan Defence Trades/Events-Updates

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Analysing the trends in China-Pakistan arms transfer​

• AMBUJ SAHU

The Beijing-Islamabad bonhomie is a given fact for making strategic calculations in the subcontinent.

Source: Getty Images

China and Pakistan have a long history of camaraderie together going back to the early 1960s. The origin of their “all-weather” relationship is believed to be centred around their common perceptions of seeing a competitor in India. The two Asian giants fought a brief war in 1962, fuelled by the different territorial claims by both countries. On the other hand, India and Pakistan have inherited a border dispute since independence, which got repeatedly manifested in armed conflicts – in 1948, 1965 and 1971. China took a pro-Pakistan stance in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971.

As far as the conventional arms transfers from China to Pakistan are concerned, they became significant from the mid-1960s. These developments were exacerbated by the US sanctions – first, in 1965 and then, after the initiation of Pakistani nuclear programme in 1979 – to the extent that by the early 1980s, almost 75% of tanks being used by the Pakistan Army and 65% of the aircraft used by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) were of Chinese origin. China allegedly had a vital role in the technology transfer to Pakistan for its nuclear and missile programmes.

This article takes a data-driven approach to understand the trends in arms transfer from China to Pakistan over the last decade (2009-18). It attempts to address two main questions. First, how has the defence trade equation between both countries evolved in the last ten years? Secondly, what kind of arms has China supplied to Pakistan during this period?

China-Pakistan defence trade​

Figure 1(below) demonstrates the share of China and USA of total arms exports to Pakistan from the period 2009-18. China continues to be the largest arms importer to Pakistan whose share is steadily increasing, especially over the last five years. It is evident from the rise in the average percentage share of China from 58.42% in 2009-18 to 69.12% in 2014-18. After the inauguration of CPEC in 2015, the port of Gwadar is seen as the alternative to Malacca straits amidst rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. The political stability of Pakistan has been a primary concern for Chinese plans to succeed. However, the fall in the percentage values of China’s share in arms exports to Pakistan for the year 2017 and 2018 are one-off deviations explained by the defence deals of Pakistan with Italy and Turkey respectively.

China continues to be the largest arms importer to Pakistan whose share is steadily increasing, especially over the last five years.​

The US-Pakistan arms trade has gradually declined from 2009-18, and has fallen to an all-time low in past three years (2016-18). It reflects in the hardened stance of the Trump administration on Pakistan due to its failure to crackdown against terrorist outfits on their territory. This culminated in the withdrawal of US aid to Pakistan worth $300 million in September 2018. Thus, the rise of Chinese arms exports in Pakistan can also be attributed to the sluggishly deteriorating US-Pak strategic ties since 2016.

Figure 2 (below) shows the share of Pakistan in the total arms exported by China from 2009-18. Although Pakistan remains the largest arms market for China, the steadily declining trend suggests that Beijing has been diversifying its arms market over the last decade. This development coincides with the Chinese bid to compete with the United States for the global superpower spot.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

As Pakistan is no more primarily patronised by the United States, it is growing dependent on China for its security commitments. From Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, it is observed that the contribution of China in Pakistan’s arms imports has been increasing at the same time when Pakistan is losing its share in the Chinese arms exports market. The trend suggests that the customer base for Chinese arms markets has diversified across the globe due to which Beijing gains a leverage over Rawalpindi to coerce on their own terms of trade. On the other hand, Rawalpindi will be forced to comply with Beijing’s terms because of their growing dependence on the latter. It affirms the view that the China-Pakistan military relationship will be heavily skewed in the future.

On further analysis, it was found that Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been the top-three arms recipients from China in the past ten years – their Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) being 6177, 1919 and 1272 (in millions) respectively. The data sounds alarming for New Delhi because it shows that the military footprint of China in the subcontinent is not limited to its geopolitical designs but also involves the armament of its neighbours, on both eastern and western fronts.

Classifying the arms imported to Pakistan (2009-18)​

The weapon-wise classification of total arms imported by Pakistan from all countries in 2009-18 (Figure 3) suggests that it has focused on furthering its air capabilities which involves procurement of varied weaponry like light combat aircraft, helicopters, and airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) systems, predominantly from China, USA and Italy. Aircrafts and air defence systems combinedly formed 48.21% of total arms exported. Moreover, this air defence build-up is more gradual than sudden, indicating a sustained Pakistani strategy of militarising the skies. Figure 4 shows the weapon-wise yearly distribution of the arms bought by Pakistan in the period 2009-18. As air-based systems persistently dominate the annual data since 2010, the resources poured by the Pakistani Armed Forces to develop conventional air-force capabilities cannot be denied.

Figure 3:

Figure 4:

China has transferred a wide range of aircraft, air missile systems and ballistic missiles in the last decade. For instance, JF-17 Thunder, a single-engine multi-role light fighter jointed developed with China, has been the pivotal component of air operations for Pakistan in recent years. Most of the missiles and guided bombs supplied by China are also compatible with the JF-17s. In 2015, the Karakoram Eagle-03 (Chinese ZDK-03 based AEW&C system) was inducted in the Pakistani squadrons after a $278 million deal. Pakistan and China have also been working on the production of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) including Caihong-5 and Wing Loong-I. The trade in air-domain also includes air defence systems and transport/reconnaissance helicopters, which indicates that the multidimensionality of China-Pakistan arms trade. Although a comprehensive military partnership, the ball is expected to move into Beijing’s court in the future due to their increasingly asymmetric relationship.

Despite ever-expanding spheres of cooperation between both countries such as infrastructure and transport development, financial integration and cultural exchanges under the umbrella of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Chinese officials believe that military cooperation forms the backbone of their relationship. The Beijing-Islamabad bonhomie is none the less then, a given fact for making strategic calculations in the subcontinent. Moreover, the downing of MiG-21 Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) JF-17 (unconfirmed) following the Balakot air-strikes in Feb 2019 should be seen as a wake-up call by the military establishment in India. Although the IAF is numerically stronger than its Pakistani counterpart, the IAF Soviet-era MiG-series aircrafts deployed for air defence are antiquated as compared to the PAF JF-17s and US-supplied F-16s. Keeping an eye on the air-power capabilities of Pakistan as well as undergo air arsenal upgradation and logistical modernisation becomes necessary for New Delhi after the trends in its arms build-up data are identified.

All charts courtesy SIPRI Arms Transfer Database.

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Ambuj Sahu is a research intern in the Strategic Studies Programme at Observer Research Foundation. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree in International Relations from South Asian University, New Delhi. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

 

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China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Plan in Pakistan Takes a Military Turn​

Under a program China insisted was peaceful, Pakistan is cooperating on distinctly defense-related projects, including a secret plan to build new fighter jets.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — When President Trump started the new year by suspending billions of dollars of security aid to Pakistan, one theory was that it would scare the Pakistani military into cooperating better with its American allies.

The reality was that Pakistan already had a replacement sponsor lined up.

Just two weeks later, the Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials were putting the final touches on a secret proposal to expand Pakistan’s building of Chinese military jets, weaponry and other hardware. The confidential plan, reviewed by The New York Times, would also deepen the cooperation between China and Pakistan in space, a frontier the Pentagon recently said Beijing was trying to militarize after decades of playing catch-up.

All those military projects were designated as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a $1 trillion chain of infrastructure development programs stretching across some 70 countries, built and financed by Beijing.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said the Belt and Road is purely an economic project with peaceful intent. But with its plan for Pakistan, China is for the first time explicitly tying a Belt and Road proposal to its military ambitions — and confirming the concerns of a host of nations who suspect the infrastructure initiative is really about helping China project armed might.

As China’s strategically located and nuclear-armed neighbor, Pakistan has been the leading example of how the Chinese projects are being used to give Beijing both favor and leverage among its clients.

Since the beginning of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, Pakistan has been the program’s flagship site, with some $62 billion in projects planned in the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. In the process, China has lent more and more money to Pakistan at a time of economic desperation there, binding the two countries ever closer.

• Dig deeper into the moment.

For the most part, Pakistan has eagerly turned more toward China as the chill with the United States has deepened. Some Pakistani officials are growing concerned about losing sovereignty to their deep-pocketed Asian ally, but the host of ways the two countries are now bound together may leave Pakistan with little choice but to go along.

Even before the revelation of the new Chinese-Pakistani military cooperation, some of China’s biggest projects in Pakistan had clear strategic implications.

A Chinese-built seaport and special economic zone in the Pakistani town of Gwadar is rooted in trade, giving China a quicker route to get goods to the Arabian Sea. But it also gives Beijing a strategic card to play against India and the United States if tensions worsen to the point of naval blockades as the two powers increasingly confront each other at sea.

A less scrutinized component of Belt and Road is the central role Pakistan plays in China’s Beidou satellite navigation system. Pakistan is the only other country that has been granted access to the system’s military service, allowing more precise guidance for missiles, ships and aircraft.

The cooperation is meant to be a blueprint for Beidou’s expansion to other Belt and Road nations, however, ostensibly ending its clients’ reliance on the American military-run GPS network that Chinese officials fear is monitored and manipulated by the United States.

[Read The Times’s series “China Rules,” about how China wrote its playbook to counter the West.]
In Pakistan, China has found an amenable ally with much to recommend it: shared borders and a long history of cooperation; a hedge in South Asia against India; a large market for arms sales and trade with potential for growth; a wealth of natural resources.

Now, China is also finding a better showcase for its security and surveillance technology in a place once defined by its close military relationship with the United States.

“The focus of Belt and Road is on roads and bridges and ports, because those are the concrete construction projects that people can easily see. But it’s the technologies of the future and technologies of future security systems that could be the biggest security threat in the Belt and Road project,” said Priscilla Moriuchi, the director of strategic threat development at Recorded Future, a cyberthreat intelligence monitoring company based in Massachusetts.

The Chinese-built and operated port in Gwadar, Pakistan.Credit...Drazen Jorgic/Reuters

An Asset on the Sea​

The tightening China-Pakistan security alliance has gained momentum on a long road to the Arabian Sea.

In 2015, under Belt and Road, China took a nascent port in the Pakistani coastal town of Gwadar and supercharged the project with an estimated $800 million development plan that included a large special economic zone for Chinese companies.

Linking the port to western China would be a new 2,000-mile network of highways and rails through the most forbidding stretch of Pakistan: Baluchistan Province, a resource-rich region plagued by militancy.

The public vision for the project was that it would allow Chinese goods to bypass much longer and more expensive shipping routes through the Indian Ocean and avoid the territorial waters of several American allies in Asia.

From the beginning, though, key details of the project were kept from the public and lawmakers, officials say, including the terms of its loan structure and the length of the lease, more than 40 years, that a Chinese state-owned company secured to operate the port.

If there was concern within Pakistan about the hidden costs of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, also known as CPEC, there was growing suspicion abroad about a hidden military aspect, as well.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, center left, praying during the formal opening of Gwadar port in 2016.Credit...Muhammad Yousuf/Associated Press


In recent years, Chinese state-owned companies have built or begun constructing seaports at strategic spots around the Indian Ocean, including places in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Chinese officials insisted that the ports would not be militarized. But analysts began wondering whether China’s endgame was to muscle its way onto coastal territories that could become prime military assets — much as it did when it started militarizing contested islands in the South China Sea.

Then, Sri Lanka, unable to repay its ballooning debt with China, handed over the Chinese-built port at Hambantota in a 99-year lease agreement last year. Indian and American officials expressed a growing conviction that taking control of the port had been China’s intent all along.
In October, Vice President Mike Pence said Sri Lanka was a warning for all Belt and Road countries that China was luring them into debt traps.

“China uses so-called debt diplomacy to expand its influence,” Mr. Pence said in a speech.
“Just ask Sri Lanka, which took on massive debt to let Chinese state companies build a port of questionable commercial value,” Mr. Pence added. “It may soon become a forward military base for China’s growing blue-water navy.”

Military analysts predict that China could use Gwadar to expand the naval footprint of its attack submarines, after agreeing in 2015 to sell eight submarines to Pakistan in a deal worth up to $6 billion. China could use the equipment it sells to the South Asian country to refuel its own submarines, extending its navy’s global reach.

The Sahiwal coal power plant in Pakistan’s Punjab Province was one of the first and biggest projects financed and completed under the Belt and Road Initiative. Pakistan has fallen behind on payments just to operate the plant.Credit...Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg

Deepening Debt​

When China inaugurated Belt and Road, in 2013, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s new government in Pakistan saw it as the answer for a host of problems.

Foreign investment in Pakistan was scant, driven away by terrorist attacks and the country’s enduring reputation for corruption. And Pakistan desperately needed a modern power grid to help ease persistent electricity shortages.

Pakistani officials say that Beijing first proposed the highway from China’s western Xinjiang region through Pakistan that connected to Gwadar port. But Pakistani officials insisted that new coal power plants be built. China agreed.

With CPEC under fresh scrutiny, Chinese and Pakistani officials in recent weeks have contended that Pakistan has a debt problem, but not a Chinese debt problem. In October, the country’s central bank revealed an overall debt and liability burden of about $215 billion, with $95 billion externally held. With nearly half of CPEC’s projects completed — in terms of worth — Pakistan currently owes China $23 billion.

But the country stands to owe $62 billion to China — before interest balloons the figure to some $90 billion — under the plan for Belt and Road’s expansion there in coming years.

Pakistan’s central bank governor, Ashraf Wathra, said publicly in 2015 that he had no clarity on Chinese investments in Pakistan and was concerned about rising debt levels. It still took him months after that to secure a briefing from cabinet officials.

Years after contracting to have China build new power plants, Pakistan still has a problem with severe electricity shortfalls.Credit...Rizwan Tabassum/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


“My main question was, ‘Do we have any feasibility studies of these projects and a cost-benefit analysis?’ Their answers were all evasive,” recalled Mr. Wathra, who has since retired.

Ahsan Iqbal, a cabinet minister and the main architect for CPEC in the previous government, said the project was well thought-through and dismissed Mr. Wathra’s account.
“No one wanted to invest here — the Chinese took a chance,” Mr. Iqbal said in an interview.

But the bill is coming due. Pakistan’s first debt repayments to China are set for next year, starting at about $300 million and gradually increasing to reach about $3.2 billion by 2026, according to officials. And Pakistan is already having trouble paying what it owes to Chinese companies.

Pakistan already builds Chinese-designed JF-17 fighter jets, like this one. Under a secret proposal, Pakistan would also cooperate with China to build a new generation of fighters.Credit...Reuters

Fighter Jets and Satellites​

According to the undisclosed proposal drawn up by the Pakistani Air Force and Chinese officials at the start of the year, a special economic zone under CPEC would be created in Pakistan to produce a new generation of fighter jets. For the first time, navigation systems, radar systems and onboard weapons would be built jointly by the countries at factories in Pakistan.

The proposal, confirmed by officials at the Ministry of Planning and Development, would expand China and Pakistan’s current cooperation on the JF-17 fighter jet, which is assembled at Pakistan’s military-run Kamra Aeronautical Complex in Punjab Province. The Chinese-designed jets have given Pakistan an alternative to the American-built F-16 fighters that have become more difficult to obtain as Islamabad’s relationship with Washington frays.

The plans are in the final stages of approval, but the current government is expected to rubber stamp the project, officials in Islamabad say.

For China, Pakistan could become a showcase for other countries seeking to shift their militaries away from American equipment and toward Chinese arms, Western diplomats said. And because China is not averse to selling such advanced weaponry as ballistic missiles — which the United States will not sell to allies like Saudi Arabia — the deal with Pakistan could be a steppingstone to a bigger market for Chinese weapons in the Muslim world.

For years, some of the most important military coordination between China and Pakistan has been going on in space.

Just months before Beijing unveiled the Belt and Road project in 2013, it signed an agreement with Pakistan to build a network of satellite stations inside the South Asian country to establish the Beidou Navigation System as an alternative to the American GPS network.

Beidou quickly became a core component of Belt and Road, with the Chinese government calling the satellite network part of an “information Silk Road” in a 2015 white paper.

A model of China’s Beidou navigation satellite network, shown during the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai in November.Credit...Kin Cheung/Associated Press


Like GPS, Beidou has a civilian function and a military one. If its trial with Pakistan goes well, Beijing could offer Beidou’s military service to other countries, creating a bloc of nations whose military actions would be more difficult for the United States to monitor.

By 2020, all 35 satellites for the system will be launched in collaboration with other Belt and Road countries, completing Beidou.

“Beidou, whatever any users use it for — whether it’s a civilian navigating their way to the grocery store or a government using it to coordinate their rocket launches — those are all things that China can track,” said Ms. Moriuchi, of the research group Recorded Future. “And that’s what is most striking: that this authoritarian government will be a major technology provider for numerous countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.”

For the Pentagon, China’s satellite launches are ominous.

China’s military “continues to strengthen its military space capabilities despite its public stance against the militarization of space,” including developing Beidou and new weaponry, according to a Pentagon report issued to Congress in May.

In October, Pakistan’s information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, said that by 2022, Pakistan would send its own astronaut into space with China’s help.

“We are close to China, and we are getting more close,” he said in a later interview. “It’s time for the West to wake up and recognize our importance.”

The Pakistani military has been a vital supporter, and securer, of China’s projects in Pakistan.Credit...Akhtar Soomro/Reuters

Wooing Pakistan’s Military​

Though the relationship between China and Pakistan has clearly grown closer, it has not been without tension. CPEC could still be vulnerable to political shifts in Pakistan — as happened this year in Malaysia, which shelved three big projects by Chinese companies.

Campaigning during the parliamentary elections that made him prime minister in July, Imran Khan vowed to review CPEC projects and renegotiate them if he won. In September, after meeting in Saudi Arabia with the crown prince, Mr. Khan said that the kingdom had agreed to invest in CPEC too.

Pakistan’s new commerce minister then proposed pausing all CPEC projects while the government assessed them.

The moves by Pakistan’s new government angered Beijing, which was concerned they could set back Belt and Road globally.

But in Pakistan, China has a steady ally it can approach to smooth things over: the country’s powerful military establishment, which stands to fill its coffers with millions of dollars through CPEC as the military’s construction companies win infrastructure bids.

Shortly after the commerce minister’s comments, the Pakistani Army’s top commander, Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, hurried to Beijing for an unannounced visit with President Xi Jinping. The meeting came six weeks before Mr. Khan made his first official visit with the Chinese president, a trip he had listed as a priority.

Statements from the military said General Bajwa and Mr. Xi spoke extensively about Belt and Road projects.

General Bajwa “said that the Belt and Road initiative with CPEC as its flagship is destined to succeed despite all odds, and Pakistan’s army shall ensure security of CPEC at all costs,” read a statement from the Pakistani military.

Shortly after the Beijing meeting, Pakistan’s government rolled back its invitation to Saudi Arabia to join CPEC and all talk of pausing or canceling Chinese projects has stopped.

Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan went to meet President Xi Jinping in China in November with high hopes for an economic deal. But few details have been announced.Credit...Pool photo by Thomas Peter


But China could face another challenge to its investments: a Pakistani financial crisis that has forced Mr. Khan’s government to seek loans from international lenders that require transparency.

Throughout September, international delegations traveled to Islamabad carrying the same message: Reveal the extent of Chinese loans if you want financial assistance.

In a late September meeting with visiting officials from the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan’s government asked for a bailout of up to $12 billion. The fund’s representatives pressed Pakistan to share all existing agreements with the Chinese government and demanded I.M.F. input during any future CPEC negotiations — a previously undisclosed facet of the negotiations, according to communications seen by the Fund and a Pakistani official. The fund also sought assurances that Pakistan would not use a bailout to repay CPEC loans.

But the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad stepped up its engagement as well, demanding that CPEC deals be kept secret and promising to shore up Pakistan’s finances with bilateral loans, Pakistani officials say.

Three months after taking office, Mr. Khan still has not made good on his campaign promises to reveal the nature of the $62 billion investment Beijing has committed to Pakistan, and his government has backtracked on an I.M.F. deal.

In early November, Mr. Khan visited Mr. Xi in Beijing, a trip during which he was expected to clinch bilateral loans and grants to ease Pakistan’s financial crisis.

Instead, his government walked away with vague promises of a deal “in principle,” but refused to disclose any details.

A Chinese national flag, center at the Sahiwal coal power plant in Pakistan, which cost about $1.9 billion to build. Pakistan now owes around $119 million in back payments to Chinese companies just for operating the plant.Credit...Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg

Luz Ding contributed reporting from Beijing.

China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Plan in Pakistan Takes a Military Turn (Published 2018)

Under a program China insisted was peaceful, Pakistan is cooperating on distinctly defense-related projects, including a secret plan to build new fighter jets.

www.nytimes.com

 

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The China-Pakistan Partnership Continues to Deepen​

The already deep Sino-Pakistani military and strategic relationship is set to deepen further for myriad reasons.

By Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan
July 09, 2021

Credit: Instagram

The China-Pakistan military and strategic relationship continues to deepen. Recently, the Pakistan Army inducted its first batch of Chinese-made VT-4 battle tanks. The VT-4 tanks, built by the Chinese state-owned defense manufacturer, Norinco, were supplied to Pakistan starting in April 2020. Pakistan is the third country to procure the VT-4 tanks, after Thailand and Nigeria. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces, has said that “the VT-4 is compatible with any modern tank in the world integrating advanced armour protection, manoeuvrability, firepower capabilities and state-of-the-art technology.” The army further noted that these third-generation tanks will be used “in an offensive role by strike formations.” The sale and induction of the Chinese tanks are just another indication of the continuing consolidation of the strategic partnership in the face of the evolving international conditions in the region.

Similarly, Pakistan’s use of Chinese-made combat drones or unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) against India cannot be ignored. After being an importer of drones, China today has emerged as a major exporter of civil and combat UAVs to a number of countries. In December, Chinese state media advertised a decision to sell 50 Wing Loong II UCAVs to Pakistan, claiming that it “would be a nightmare for Indian ground formations in high-altitude areas as India’s military does not have the ability to respond to the new-age stand-off weapons.”

Many security analysts, as well as the Indian military establishment, have underestimated the effect of drones on the India-Pakistan border along the Line of Control or the India-China border along the Line of Actual Control. In December 2020, commenting on the Chinese sale of the Wing Loong II, the Indian Air Force chief had stated, “Whether it is [the] Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir or the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, the airspace is very closely monitored by radars and hotly contested with fighters. The armed drones will simply be shot down if they cross the lines.” Six months later, toward the end of June, the reality was different when there was a drone attack on the high security technical area of the Indian Air Force station at Jammu. It remains unclear, however, if the drone flew from across the LoC or was locally controlled.

The China-Pakistan defense trade is not new, but the latest arms deliveries are a sign of a mutual desire to deepen their strategic engagement. Toward this end, the Chinese defense minister, General Wei Fengshe, visited Islamabad in late November 2020 and the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at enhancing defense cooperation between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Pakistan Army. The Chinese Defense Ministry quoted Wei calling for a closer engagement, with a desire to “push the mil-to-mil relationship to a higher level, so as to jointly cope with various risks and challenges, firmly safeguard the sovereignty and security interests of the two countries, and safeguard the regional peace and stability.”

During his visit, Wei also met with the Pakistani president and the prime minister, both of whom conveyed their deep appreciation for China’s continuing support. Wei remarked that “China is willing to strengthen strategic communication, enhance strategic mutual trust and strengthen strategic cooperation with Pakistan.” And Pakistan’s president, Arif Alvi, said that he hoped for the two countries to “further strengthen cooperation in the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as well as the defense and security fields.” The fact that Pakistan completely endorses China’s position on its core issues including the South China Sea, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Tibet will definitely be comforting to China.

The growing number of China-Pakistan military exercises are a further sign of the deepening partnership between the two militaries. In one of the more recent engagements, in May, the two militaries conducted a joint exercise close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Tibet. The joint military drill came against the backdrop of the Galwan conflict between India and China and the prolonged military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. Many details are not available on the participating forces, but from the Chinese military side, the PLA 3 Air Defense Division is reported to have participated. Prior to this exercise, the PLA and the Pakistan military reportedly did a pre-exercise training in Sargodha in Pakistan.

In December, the Chinese PLA Air Force and the Pakistani Air Force participated in a joint exercise, Shaheen (Eagle) IX, in Sindh. These exercises were meant to “promote the development of China-Pakistan mil-to-mil relationships, deepen practical cooperation between the two air forces, and improve the actual-combat training level of the two sides.” Commenting on the exercise, Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said that the two countries are “all-weather strategic cooperative partners” whose “bilateral relations can only get better in the future.” He went on to add that “the military ties between China and Pakistan serve as an important pillar for the two countries’ bilateral relationship. Since the beginning of 2020, the two militaries have maintained close high-level strategic communication and carried out pragmatic cooperation in related fields, testifying their brotherhood and friendship enabling them to go through thick and thin together.”

After inspecting the Shaheen IX exercise, which is the ninth in the series held between the air forces of the two countries, Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa commented that these exercises would “improve combat capacity of both air forces substantially and also enhance interoperability.”

Pakistan has been an important partner to China for decades. Its importance may have increased further for a number of reasons. One, China has antagonized a large number of countries with its wolf warrior diplomacy, from its neighborhood in the Indo-Pacific to Europe. This raises the importance of the few real partners it has, like Pakistan. Also, increasingly worsening relations with India have resulted in New Delhi becoming closer to Washington and its allies, including Canberra and Tokyo. India has, in addition, developed a web of security and strategic partnerships including the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with the U.S., Australia, and Japan, (known as the Quad), and a number of trilateral strategic partnerships such as India-U.S.-Japan and Japan-India-Australia. All of these new partnerships are clearly designed to counter China, even if India is reluctant to say that plainly. But all of these also make China depend more on Pakistan to counter India.

Another reason for the growing Chinese dependence on Pakistan has to do with the evolving situation in Afghanistan. With the expectation of a Taliban takeover, China has multiple reasons to want workable relations with the Taliban. For one, China is clearly worried about the possibility of the spread of extremists from Afghanistan to Xinjiang. For the time being, the Taliban appear to be reassuring Beijing about their intentions on the Uyghur issue. A senior Taliban official is reported to have said that “We care about the oppression of Muslims, be it in Palestine, in Myanmar, or in China, and we care about the oppression of non-Muslims anywhere in the world. But what we are not going to do is interfere in China’s internal affairs.” The Taliban promise to not interfere in China’s domestic affairs must be soothing to Beijing, but it is an issue that China cannot ignore.

In addition, with the U.S. exiting the theater, China might want to have greater access to Central Asia through Afghanistan. All of this will be possible only through the good offices of Islamabad and the links that the Pakistani establishment has with the Taliban. And finally, China might also want to demonstrate its loyalty to close friends such as Pakistan and its capacity to maintain good relations with other countries at a time when its relations with many countries in the region are in trouble.

All of this suggests that the already deep Sino-Pakistan military and strategic relationship will continue to deepen.

 

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HQ-9/P air defence systems

Pakistan Army inducted HQ-9/P air defence systems to make Pakistan’s air defence impenetrable. HQ-9/P is state of the art High to medium-range air defence system (HIMADS), which is also considered to be strategic long-range SAM (Surface to Air Missile).

The missile system is capable of a great degree of flexibility and precision in intercepting multiple targets including air crafts, cruise missiles and BVRW (beyond visual range weapons) at the range of 100 km. HQ-9/P HIMADS also has a single-shot kill probability. Probability to kill refers to the ability of successful engagement between target and weapon. At the commissioning ceremony of the air defence system, COAS of Pakistan said that weapons will significantly contribute in (CLIAD) Comprehensive Layered Integrated Air Defence of Pakistan.

This news holds importance for Pakistan because in recent year’s airborne/based threats are increasing due to technological innovations. Today, Pakistan is facing an amalgamation of high to low air threats, especially on its eastern border, where these threats are not only increasing in numbers but also have a degree of variation in their intensity.

Therefore, impenetrable-able integrated air defence systems are becoming a necessity for Pakistan, especially in evolving regional geopolitical and security systems. Comprehensive layered Integrated Air defence system or Modern Integrated air defence systems consists of personals, systems, equipment, weapons, radars, batteries and most important structure to counter adversaries attempts or desires to penetrate one’s air space through any airborne means.

This amalgamation of different systems has to perform three critical functions which include: “air surveillance, battle management and air control”. A single air defence system does not explain the entirety of integrated air defence, rather systems like HQ-9/P are part of larger systems or in other words “systems of systems”, which include many other systems. For the effectiveness of the “Comprehensive Layered Integrated Air Defence” synchronization and integration among the air defence systems is necessary.

Thus, currently other than HQ-9/P high to medium-range air defence system with Surface to air missiles Pakistan army has also inducted LY 80 air defence system, HQ16A medium-range air defence system and short-range FM 90 air defence system. To further enhance the integration Pakistan is also conduction Air defence exercises, “Al-Bayza”.

 

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Pakistan should introduce more kinds of drone production lines. After absorbing the technology, export your own drones.

 

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95th Anniversary of the founding of Chinese Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) was commemorated at GHQ.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Ambassador of China to Pakistan, His Excellency Nong Rong, officials from Chinese Embassy & Officers from tri-services of Pakistan attended the event. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of China thanked COAS for hosting reception on the eve of PLA’s 95th Anniversary

The Chinese Ambassador said that China & Pakistan are iron brothers, all-weather friends & strategic partners. The Chinese Ambassador said, the recent meeting of China- Pakistan Joint Committee of Cooperation held at China has setup an important platform for military collaborations which will serve effectively for military-to-military relations between both countries. COAS felicitated PLA & lauded PLA’s role in China’s defence, security & nation building. Highlighting various facets of deep ties between both states militaries & ppl.

“Pakistan China relationship is unique & robust that has proven its resilience in the face of challenges. PLA & Pakistan Army are brothers in arms & our relationship will continue to contribute towards safeguarding our collective interests.”COAS.

 

[ghazi52]

Will see this in Pakistani flag some day.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1553183388374372352

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,.,

https://twitter.com/x/status/1555154749137321984

 

[ghazi52]

Coming soon
Z 10MP

 

[ghazi52]

Coming soon to Pakistan..
Z10ME

 

[ghazi52]

,.,.
One of Pakistan Army's Premier Shoot & Scoot Artillery Weapon - The HS-15 Self Propelled Howitzer Gun. 53 km with a rocket-assisted artillery projectile.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.
The SH-15 is the export variant of the PCL-181 truck-mounted 155mm self-propelled howitzer. The SH-15 is based on a Shaanxi 6×6 truck chassis with an armored cabin.

The SH-15 Howitzer has a 155mm 52-caliber howitzer that can fire a wide range of shells.
Moreover, this howitzer is also equipped with a world-leading automatic fire control system (AFCS). The SH-15 PC has a full combat weight of 25 tons.

This weight lies within the cargo capability of any medium-weight transport aircraft. Thus, these howitzers can be easily airlifted by means of PAF’s Il-78 strategic air lifters

.

 

[ghazi52]

,.,..,
A mixed formation of three MiG-designs built in China and operated by the Pakistan Air Force.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,

Pak-China defence cooperation continues to deepen​

December 26, 2022




ISLAMABAD – Defence ties between Pakistan and China got bolstered over the years as the two allies multiplied cooperation in other sectors too.

Over the weekend, the Keel Laying Ceremony of first HANGOR Class Submarine and Steel Cutting of second Submarine was held in Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works – an evidence of the Pakistan-China friendship.

The defence agreement between Pakistan and China included development of 08 HANGOR Class Submarines including 04 under constructions at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group in China and remaining 04 are being built at KS&EW under Transfer of Technology agreement.

Recently, China described the Chinese military’s relationship with Pakistan’s armed forces as “serving as the mainstay of China-Pakistan friendship.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said “China is an all-weather strategic cooperative partner and friendly neighbour of Pakistan.” China’s military has also recently hailed the importance of military-to-military relations between the two countries.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

India's defence strategists must be worrying to the death seeing the growing Sino-Pak relationship in all fields. According to them, penny-wise accounting should reign supreme over being pound-wise foolish!!! The most critical procurement contined even during Bajwa's tenure!!! Put Turkey into the mix, and India's conventional superiority over Pak is eroding with each passing day. Cry Hindutva cry.....

*India's only solace is in Pak's inability to pay for the next big defense stuff, but Pak always ensures that it be a moving goal post.....