New Delhi: With ties between United States and Pakistan gradually turning sour, Islamabad is increasingly seen cosying up to China to fulfil its burgeoning defence needs.
Here are the 15 facts that drive Pakistan-China relations as revealed by the IndiaSpend analysis and reported by the Hindustan Times:
1/ China's supplies 63 percent of Pakistan's arms need.
2/ China became the world’s third-largest arms exporter largely due of the Pak's demands for weapons.
3/ Pakistan to purchase eight diesel-electric submarines, costing about $5 billion, making it China’s biggest defence export deal.
4/ About 300 JF-17 fighter planes were jointly developed by China and Pakistan.
5/ These will form the backbone of the Pakistani Air Force.
6/ Nigeria to purchase an unknown number of JF-17 aircraft, making Pakistan a defence exporter.
7/ Three of the four 2,5000-ton Zulfiquar-class frigates were constructed in China, the fourth one in Karachi. The project cost $500 to $750 million.
8/ Three of four 560-ton Azmat-class attack craft, essentially missile boats armed with eight C-802 anti-ship missiles are manufactured in Pak with help of China.
9/ 600 Al Khalid tanks produced in Pakistan form the backbone of the Pakistan army’s armoured corps. They are variants of Chinese Type 90-II tank.
10 Nine HQ-16 medium range surface-to-air missile systems with a maximum intercept range of 40 km at a cost of $600 million.
11/ Four Karakoram Eagle airborne early warning & control aircraft (AWACS) at a cost of $278 million.
12/ Both US and China shared almost equal proportion of Pak’s arms imports five years ago: 39% and 38% respectively.
13/ Today, US supplies dropped to 19% and stands at second place.
14/ There was a 73% drop in US security aid over four years to 2015.
15/ The US also cancelled the subsidised sale of eight F-16 fighter jets.
