J-10: The New Cornerstone of Sino-Pakistani Defense Cooperation, The Jamestown Monitor // China Brief, 16 December 2009
EXCERPT: "China and Pakistan have forged a formidable partnership in high-tech defense production. This partnership is born of their ever-deepening military and strategic cooperation that is also reflective of the burgeoning capacity of China's defense industries and the budding Sino-Pakistani defense relationship. The epitome of this bilateralism is the recent revelation that the Chinese have agreed to the sale of 36 J-10B fighter jets to Pakistan. The J-10 aircrafts are known to be one of the most advanced weapon systems in China’s arsenal, of which Pakistan will be the first recipient. With the delivery of 36 fighter jets, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will raise two fighting squadrons that will further sharpen its combativeness. The J-10 deal was reportedly sealed for a whopping $1.4 billion, which accounts for 70 percent of Chinese average arms sales of $2 billion a year. The deal marks the depth of a strategic alliance between Beijing and Islamabad. . . Although there is a proliferation of joint defense projects between China and Pakistan, their collaboration in aviation industry has peaked at the turn of the millennium. . . Pakistan also plans to export these aircraft to developing countries for which, it says, orders have already started pouring in."
Read the full report.
Related articles:
Pakistani PM lauds China's contribution in Pakistan, China View, 18 December 2009
Pakistan and China: A Fraying Friendship?, TIME, 19 February 2009
Related reports:
Understanding a few of Chinese interests in Pakistan [doc], Center for Research and Security Studies, [Islamabad, Pakistan], 25 October 2009
India’s security dilemma vis-à-vis China: A case of optimum or sub-optimum restraint? [pdf], Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, 2009
China's Peaceful Rise and South Asia [pdf], Islamabad Policy Research Institute, August 2008
Related posts:
Can China deliver in Pakistan?, 3 December 2009
Pakistan, China to jointly work on counter-terrorism strategy, 13 November 2009
