Govt official among five killed in Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir
Devastating news from Rajouri. We have lost a dedicated officer of the J&K Administration Services. Just yesterday he was accompanying the Deputy CM around the district & attended the online meeting I chaired. Today the residence of the officer was hit by Pak shelling as they…
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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Scramble for 40 Chinese jets inflates Pakistan's defence budget
ISLAMABAD: China's fifth-generation stealth fighter J-35A, touted as a rival to the American F-35, is at the heart of Pakistan's military ambitions as it doubles down on defence spending amid telling blows to its economy. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's announcement of a 20% hike in the country's defence budget – the outlay stands at 2.55 trillion rupees ($9 billion) – coincides with reports of advanced arms deals with China. Pakistan is said to be negotiating with China for 40 stealth fighters, with deliveries potentially starting this August. The J-35A, a twin-engine, multi-role fighter equipped with PL-17 missiles and advanced AESA radar, promises to enhance Pakistan's air superiority and strike capabilities. Pakistan Air Force has already approved the purchase, and various agencies have reported that pilots are already training in China. Beijing's rumoured offer of a 50% discount and lenient payment terms is in line with deepening China-Pakistan ties, with nearly 80% of Pakistan's arsenal now sourced from there. The acquisition of J-35A stealth fighter jets threatens to escalate tensions with India even as Pakistani diplomats criss-cross foreign shores, preaching restraint and dialogue. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với mức chênh lệch giá thấp nhất IC Markets Đăng ký Undo The Shehbaz Sharif govt's decision to prioritise defence over development has also drawn muted criticism within Pakistan's tightly controlled political space. The budget slashed overall federal expenditure by 7% to 17.57 trillion rupees ($62 billion). Pakistan was mainly dependent on Chinese-supplied weapons, including J-10C fighters and HQ-9 air defence systems, during last month's military conflict with India. The country's economic woes make this military outlay particularly contentious. It owes $15 billion to China alone, its largest bilateral creditor, and is negotiating a $6-8 billion IMF bailout to avert a total economic collapse. Servicing its $269 billion debt consumes over 1.9% of GDP, leaving little room for social welfare or infrastructure. With national security becoming the rationale to override financial prudence, the budget faced little scrutiny in parliament, reflecting the military's outsized influence on how the country is run. On the diplomatic front, Pakistan is working overtime to counter India's 'terrorism narrative'. Foreign minister Ishaq Dar has engaged Gulf states, EU and the UN to portray Pakistan as a stabilising force and India as the aggressor. These efforts include back-channel talks and leveraging the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to secure economic lifelines from Beijing. During a recent visit to China, Dar thanked Beijing for its support during the India-Pakistan conflict, highlighting it as an 'iron-clad' relationship.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
2 Chinese aircraft carriers are operating in the Pacific for the first time. Why?
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Japan this week confirmed that two Chinese aircraft carriers have operated together for the first time in the Pacific, fueling Tokyo's concern about Beijing's rapidly expanding military activity far beyond its are considered critical to projecting power at a distance. China routinely sends coast guard vessels, warships and warplanes to areas around the disputed East China Sea islands, but now it is going as far as what's called the second-island chain that includes Guam - a U.S. territory. A single Chinese carrier has ventured into the Pacific in the past, but never east of that chain until what to know about the latest moves by China, which has the world's largest navy happened? Japan's Defense Ministry said the two carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, were seen separately but almost simultaneously operating near southern islands in the Pacific for the first time. Both operated in waters off Iwo Jima, about 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) south of Tokyo, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Liaoning also sailed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone of Minamitorishima, the country's easternmost island. There was no violation of Japanese territorial waters. Still, Nakatani said Japan has expressed "concern" to the Chinese carriers had warplanes take off and land. Late Wednesday, Japan's Defense Ministry said a Chinese J-15 fighter jet that took off from the Shandong on Saturday chased a Japanese P-3C aircraft on reconnaissance duty in the area and came within an "abnormally close distance" of 45 meters (50 yards).The Chinese jet on Sunday crossed 900 meters (980 yards) in front of the Japanese P-3C, the ministry said, adding it has strongly requested China to take measures to prevent such an "abnormal approach" that could cause accidental is Japan worried? China's military buildup and expanding area of activity have raised tensions in the Chinese carriers sailed past the first-island chain, the Pacific archipelago off the Asian mainland that includes Japan, Taiwan and part of the Philippines. The Liaoning reached farther to the second-island chain, a strategic line extending to Guam, showing China also can challenge Japan's ally, the United States."China apparently aims to elevate its capability of the two aircraft carriers, and to advance its operational capability of the distant sea and airspace," Nakatani defense minister vowed to further strengthen Japan's air defense on remote has been accelerating its military buildup especially since 2022, including counter-strike capability, with long-range cruise missiles as deterrence to does China want? China's navy on Tuesday confirmed the deployments, calling it part of routine training in the western Pacific "to test their capabilities in far seas protection and joint operations." It said the deployment was in compliance with international laws and not targeted at any is pursuing a vast military modernization program including ambitions of a true "blue-water" naval force capable of operating at long ranges for extended has the world's largest navy numerically but lags far behind the United States in its number of aircraft carriers. China has three, the U.S. numerical advantage allows it to keep a carrier, currently the USS George Washington, permanently forward-deployed to Pentagon has expressed concern over Beijing's focus on building new carriers. Its latest report to Congress on Chinese defense developments noted that it "extends air defense coverage of deployed task groups beyond the range of land-based defenses, enabling operations farther from China's shore."What are the carriers' abilities? The two Chinese carriers currently in the western Pacific employ the older "ski-jump" launch method for aircraft, with a ramp at the end of a short runway to assist planes taking off. China's first carrier, the Liaoning, was a repurposed Soviet ship. The second, the Shandong, was built in China along the Soviet third carrier, the Fujian, launched in 2022 and is undergoing final sea trials. It is expected to be operational later this year. It is locally designed and built and employs a more modern, electromagnetic-type launch system like those developed and used by the three ships are conventionally powered, while all the U.S. carriers are nuclear powered, giving them the ability to operate at much greater range and more power to run advanced imagery provided to The Associated Press last year indicated China is working on a nuclear propulsion system for its other recent concerns? In August, a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft violated Japan's airspace off the southern prefecture of Nagasaki, and a Chinese survey ship violated Japanese territorial waters off another southern prefecture, Kagoshima. In September, the Liaoning and two destroyers sailed between Japan's westernmost island of Yonaguni - just east of Taiwan - and nearby Iriomote, entering an area just outside Japan's territorial waters where the country has some control over maritime routinely sends coast guard vessels and aircraft into waters and airspace surrounding the Japanese-controlled, disputed East China Sea islands to harass Japanese vessels in the area, forcing Japan to scramble also worries about China's increased joint military activities with Russia, including joint operations of warplanes or warships around northern and southwestern Japan in recent years.
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Business Standard
10 hours ago
- Business Standard
Turkey to sell 48 Kaan fighter jets to Indonesia in major defence deal
Turkey will sell 48 fighter jets to Indonesia in the coming decade, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Ankara pushes to build its defense industry and increase exports of military hardware. The agreement to sell the Kaan fifth-generation planes, which Turkey is still developing, is a 'record-breaking' military deal for the country, Erdogan said, without disclosing financial details. It 'clearly reflects the progress and capabilities of our domestic and national defense industry,' he said. A spokesperson for Indonesian defense ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. President Prabowo Subianto's office said he witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on fifth-generation jet procurement, without providing further details. Amid a global rise in defense spending, driven in part by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Turkey boosted such expenditure by 12 per cent last year to $25 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. As well as the Kaan project, Erdogan wants Turkey to be a leader in the fields of drones and armored vehicles. Turkey has been trying to develop Kaan jets — which flew for the first time last year — with some other countries including Saudi Arabia, Bloomberg has reported. Ankara has also asked for US permission to make GE Aerospace F110 engines, which power the twin-engined Kaan warplane. Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, is diversifying military partnerships beyond its traditional allies in the West, exploring cooperation with countries such as Turkey and China as part of President Subianto's push to strengthen the armed forces. Turkey and Indonesia have deepened their military ties recently. In April, they said they will establish a joint venture between their strategic defense companies, partly to develop submarines. The Kaan deal with Turkey comes shortly after Indonesia revealed that China had offered to sell it J-10 fighter jets — aircraft recently battle-tested in Pakistan's clashes with India over Kashmir.
