Pakistan to meet needs from China

ISLAMABAD (INP) - Pakistan’s increasingly ‘close and effective defence ties’ established with China during the past decade will allow Islamabad to ‘fill the gap’ arising from the prospect of reduced military aid from the United States, a senior Pakistani official said on Sunday after reports emerged that up to $800 million in US aid to Islamabad was being withheld.
On Sunday, a senior Pakistani official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity following the New York Times report said, “This tightening of US military aid was expected. That’s where our long-term relations with China will help to meet this gap.”
Amid tense relations with the US, Pakistani officials have pointed out Beijing as the country’s natural ally, offering the possibility of becoming at least a half-substitute to ties with the US.
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that the Obama administration was suspending and in some cases cancelling up to $800 million in annual military aid and equipment to Pakistan - more than one-third of the $2 billion earmarked for security assistance annually to the South Asian country.
The US decision would mark a significant punitive measure by Washington which in the past has sought to build up close ties with Pakistan’s armed forces (notably the army and air force) in its campaign to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region.
But relations have continued to deteriorate since the May 2 raid by US Navy SEALs in which Osama bin Laden was targeted and killed in Abbottabad.
In recent weeks, Pakistani officials have pointed towards China’s increasing role in the past decade as its main supplier of military hardware, as Pakistan established closer ties to the US campaign against terror following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
During the past decade, Pakistan began jointly producing the JF-17 Thunder fighter plane with China. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plans to eventually induct up to 250 of the JF-17 fighter planes - the largest deployment of any aircraft in its history.
Earlier, this year, the Pakistani government also publicly announced its approval for the Pakistan Navy to begin negotiations with China for the purchase of up to six new submarines, in a move that - if successful - will become the largest single hardware order by the Navy.