Pakistan and China have signed a defense pact in response to a recentinformation-sharing pact between America and India.
China’s Minister of National Defence, General Wei Fenghe, was reportedly inIslamabad for three days last week and signed an MOU to strengthencooperation between the Armed Forces of Pakistan and the People’sLiberation Army of China.——————————
——————————
Although the details of the China-Pakistan defense treaty are yet to berevealed, analysts have speculated that the deal contains updatedcommitments to intelligence sharing that will help Pakistan keep track ofcross-border exchanges along the Pak-India border.
With General Wei Fenghe’s visit, Pakistan has made its intentions regardingthe new defense arrangements clear by presenting him with theNishan-e-Imtiaz award.
Senator Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said in a statement that the MOU between thetwo countries will counter India’s US-backed onslaught. He also remarkedthat the new understanding between Pakistan and China will merge theireconomic and security interests at a higher level.
As per reports, the Pakistani and Chinese air forces will conduct a jointexercise called ‘Shaheen IX’ before the end of December 2020. Shaheen IX isexpected to be bigger than its predecessor Shaheen VIII in all aspects. Thelatter had lasted over a fortnight and had utilized around fifty warplanes.——————————
Talking to Nikkei Asia, the Deputy Director Asia Program at the WilsonCenter, Michael Kugelman, said the new agreement will provide substantialstrategic stability to Pakistan amidst recurring clashes after had Indiaracked up on American support in October.
“The China-Pakistan agreement can be viewed as an effort to reduce some ofthe imbalance in strategic stability in the region prompted by theU.S.-India deal,” he said.
Pakistan’s latest military dialogue with China follows the signing of therecent Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperationbetween America and India. Signed in October 2020, the newinformation-sharing pact gives Indian forces access to data from Americanmilitary satellites.