China aids Pak defence buildup

indiandude123

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Islamabad, May 19 (TruthDive): Pakistan's defence deal with China has caused alarm in Indian Defence circles. India faced with the two neighbouring countries hostile to it had decided to go in for purchases with Russia and france for its air force and also update some of its existing aircrafts. Pakistan's fast building of the fourth nuclear reactor too is a cause for concern. Now the news that China has agreed to immediately provide Pakistan 50 new JF-17 Thunder multi-role jets under a co-production agreement even as talks are on for more fighter aircraft including those with stealth technology.

An unamed official quoted by The Dawn said the war planes to be fully funded by China would help bolster Pakistan's defence and add to tactical capability of its air force.

The News daily reported that it is likely that these planes will be supplied by June next year.

China will immediately provide 50 JF-17 Thunder aircraft to Pakistan, an unnamed official was quoted as saying by the Dawn daily.

"We will get these planes in weeks," he said, adding that a formal agreement to that effect was likely to be signed today.

The official said Pakistan and China were already jointly producing the JF-17 aircraft, but these 50 planes would be equipped with more sophisticated avionics.

Satellite photographs from last month show that Pakistan is rushing its work on a fourth nuclear reactor at the Khushab facility, Newsweek reported on Sunday."The buildup is remarkable," – Institute for Science and International Security analyst Paul Brannan said. "And that nobody in the U.S. or in the Pakistani government says anything about this — especially in this day and age — is perplexing" (Andrew Bast, Newsweek, May 15).

"You're talking about Pakistan even eventually passing France at some point. That's extraordinary," former U.S. Defense Undersecretary Eric Edelman told Newsweek.

France presently has the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal, behind the United States, Russia and China.

An unidentified Defense Department source said the Obama administration is "confident that Pakistan has taken appropriate steps toward securing its nuclear arsenal." Islamabad also rejects any concerns about its nuclear safeguards.

Islamabad says its nuclear augmentation is a reaction to India, which plans to spend $50 billion in the next half-decade to enhance the abilities of its armed forces.

"To say it's just an issue between just India and Pakistan is divorced from reality," said former Senator Sam Nunn, a widely known nonproliferation proponent. "The U.S. and Soviet Union went through 40 years of the Cold War and came out every time from dangerous situations with lessons learned. Pakistan and India have gone through some dangerous times, and they have learned some lessons. But not all of them."

A high-ranking congressional source informed on nuclear issues said U.S. intelligence indicates that Islamabad possesses enough weapon-usable material to build more than 100 warheads and could have an annual production rate of between eight and 20 bombs reports GSN.

The secret U.S. commando raid into Pakistan earlier this month that resulted in the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has again raised fears that the South Asian nation's military is not up to the task of guarding its nuclear arsenal from foreign governments or extremists.

China aids Pak defence buildup | TruthDive
 

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