【09.11.27 FT】China-Pakistan military links upset India

渔音谦谦

China-Pakistan military links upset India By James Lamont in New Delhi and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad
Published: November 27 2009 19:57 | Last updated: November 27 2009 19:57



India signalled its deep unease on Friday over growing military ties between China and Pakistan when A.K. Antony, the defence minister, said the partnership was a “serious concern” to New Delhi.
India’s defence and intelligence officials worry about China’s rising influence in south Asia and the Indian Ocean region, and its territorial claims beyond its borders on the Tibet plateau.
Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, this week told the US Council on Foreign Relations that China had become more “assertive” in the region. “The increasing nexus between China and Pakistan in the military sphere remains an area of serious concern,” Mr Antony said in an address at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi.
“We have to carry out continuous appraisals of Chinese military capabilities and shape our responses accordingly. At the same time, we need to be vigilant at all times.”
His comments come days after Pakistan launched a domestic-ally-assembled fighter aircraft built in collaboration with China as part of a broader development of military hardware.
The Pakistan Air Force plans to introduce up to 250 JF-17 fighters, at a cost of about $5bn. The project underlines Islamabad’s reliance on Beijing as its primary source of supply for military hardware.
Pakistani officials speak glowingly of ties with China. “China has always stood by us in our hour of need,” said Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan’s prime minister, while presiding over a ceremony to celebrate the event.
Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan’s president, meanwhile, has spoken of the two countries’ “complete understanding” on regional issues.
These sentiments are reciprocated by China. “[Our] friendship is higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the Arabian sea and sweeter than honey,” said Luo Zhaohui, the Chinese ambassador to Islamabad.
In New Delhi, these expressions of brotherhood alongside defence contracts are interpreted as China arming Pakistan to pin India down. Brajesh Mishra, the former national security chief, said earlier this month that New Delhi could find itself facing simultaneous military fronts with Islamabad and Beijing within five years, as China became more strident about its territorial claims.
Pakistani and western officials expect Beijing to sell at least 36 of its more sophisticated J-10 fighter planes to Islamabad in the coming months.


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