In response to a recent information-sharing agreement between America and India, Pakistan and China have signed a defense pact.
China’s Minister of National Defense, General Wei Fenghe, reportedly spent three days last week in Islamabad and signed an MOU to strengthen cooperation between the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Although the information about the defense treaty between China and Pakistan have yet to be disclosed, analysts have suggested that the agreement includes revised intelligence sharing commitments that will help Pakistan keep track of cross-border exchanges along the Pak-India border.
Pakistan has made its intentions about the new defense arrangements clear with the visit of General Wei Fenghe by presenting him with the Nishan-e-Imtiaz prize.
In a tweet, Senator Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said the MOU between the two nations would counter India’s US-backed onslaught. He also noted that the new understanding between Pakistan and China will at a higher level, combine their economic and security interests.
A joint exercise called ‘Shaheen IX’ will be performed by the Pakistani and Chinese air forces, according to sources, before the end of December 2020. Shaheen IX is supposed to be bigger in all respects than its predecessor, Shaheen VIII. The latter had lasted for over a fortnight and had used fifty or so warplanes.
Speaking to Nikkei Asia, Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program at the Wilson Center, said the new agreement would provide Pakistan with significant strategic stability in the midst of recurring conflicts after India racked up American support in October.
“The China-Pakistan agreement can be seen as an effort to reduce some of the imbalance caused by the U.S.-India agreement in the region’s strategic stability,” he said.
After the signing of the recent Basic Trade and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation between America and India, Pakistan’s new military dialogue with China follows. The new information-sharing agreement signed in October 2020, gives Indian forces access to data from American military satellites.
