Latest news with #CentreForJointWarfareStudies
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pakistan upgrading nukes with Chinese support, US warns
Pakistan is upgrading its nuclear arsenal with Chinese support and sees India as an 'existential threat', a US report has said. In its worldwide threat assessment report for 2025, the US Defence Intelligence Agency predicted that nuclear modernisation would be a top priority for Pakistan's military during the next year. The report said: 'Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India's conventional military advantage.' It suggested Islamabad was not only upgrading and securing its arsenal but also 'almost certainly' procuring weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 'Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD-applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries,' it said. Pakistan is a recipient of China's economic and military largesse, and the two nations carry out joint military exercises, including an air exercise in November last year. 'Foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistan's WMD programmes are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China, and sometimes are trans-shipped through Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates,' said the report. India considers China its 'primary adversary,' and Pakistan, its neighbour, more of an 'ancillary security problem', the report said. It added that India had modernised its military last year, testing the nuclear-capable developmental Agni-I Prime MRBM (medium-range ballistic missile) and the Agni-V multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle. India also commissioned a second nuclear-powered submarine to strengthen its nuclear triad and bolster its ability to deter adversaries. Last week, the Indian government claimed China had helped move satellites and recalibrate air defence systems before Pakistan shot down Indian fighter jets during their recent military clashes. According to Ashok Kumar, the director general of the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, China worked with Pakistan to reorganise its radar and air defence systems to track troop deployments and aerial movements by India. Mr Kumar, whose research group operates under the Indian Ministry of Defence, said Chinese military advisers helped Pakistan realign its satellite coverage over India as the two neighbouring state clashed after the April 22 terror attack. On that day, 26 tourists were killed at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan and accused it of backing cross-border terrorism. Pakistan denied any involvement and called for an international investigation. Between May 7 and 10, the neighbouring states launched attacks involving supersonic missiles and drones on each other's territory. Pakistan said it shot down six Indian warplanes, including three French-made Rafales. India has not commented on the specific losses. Dozens of civilians were killed in the attacks, mostly in Kashmir, which is divided between the two nations. Hours after the initial Indian military strikes on May 7, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's foreign minister, told parliament that Islamabad had used Chinese jets, including J-10C, against India. Mr Dar said the Chinese ambassador had been called to his office to discuss the deployment. Pakistan also used a Chinese-made PL-15 missile, which has never been used in combat before. Its use raised concerns among Beijing's rivals, including Taiwan. China's government has not commented on the use of its equipment. Donald Trump, the US president, surprised many by announcing a 'full and immediate ceasefire' on May 10, which appears to be holding. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
News18
20-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Modi's Challenge: Beijing's Pakistan Support And The Future Of India-China Ties
Last Updated: After the recent India-Pakistan conflict which saw the extensive use of Chinese weapon systems and jets attacking Indian soil, is there even a relationship left to label any more? India & China – International relations and geopolitical experts will call them Strategic Competitors, and an emotionally charged monologue on TV will label them enemies. But after the recent India-Pakistan conflict which saw the extensive use of Chinese weapon systems and Chinese manufactured jets attacking Indian soil, is there even a relationship left to label any more? It was no secret that China has been arming Pakistan for a long time now. But during the conflict, it went a step further, helping Pakistan diplomatically to secure IMF loans, and on the battlefield helped the terror-sponsoring state reorganise its radar and air defence systems to more effectively detect India's deployments of troops and weaponry. These actions warrant a re-orientation of India-China relations which had been relatively thawing. China's role in enabling India's primary adversary is something that can set this already fractured relationship decades back. It hampers any genuine cooperation, and raises an important question: Can India and China truly build a stable relationship when one actively arms and diplomatically and militarily supports the other's main regional adversary? A Strategic Enabler for Pakistan The recent conflict between India and Pakistan exposed a dimension of the China-Pakistan relationship that extends beyond mere arms sales, raising profound questions for India's strategic calculus. According to an analysis from a research group under India's Ministry of Defence, China provided significant air defence and satellite support to Pakistan during the hostilities in May 2025. This assessment, offered by the director general of the Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, suggests Beijing was more directly involved than previously understood. For New Delhi, it just cements the 'two-front situation" that leading experts have always talked about. This means planning for any future conflict with Pakistan must now explicitly factor in Chinese assistance. The Indian military assessment that anything currently available to China could be with Pakistan tomorrow underscores the deep erosion of trust this perceived enablement has caused. Undermining Diplomatic Thaw China's active support for Pakistan during a period of conflict starkly contrasts with the recent, albeit limited, diplomatic thaw between Beijing and New Delhi. Following the October 2024 border agreement, which facilitated the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping since 2019, there had been a notable increase in diplomatic engagement. This included subsequent meetings between foreign ministers, defence ministers, national security advisors, and other diplomats from November 2024 through March 2025. Discussions touched upon resuming the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, data sharing on trans-border rivers, restoring direct flights, and media exchanges. India articulated a desire for a 'more stable and predictable path,' while China expressed calls for the two nations to be 'partners rather than rivals.' India even lifted restrictions on several Chinese apps in February 2025, seen as a step towards improving ties. However, China's actions in supporting Pakistan during the conflict severely undermines any actual progress made. Providing military intelligence and logistical aid to India's primary adversary is fundamentally incompatible with building a stable, predictable, or partnership-oriented relationship. Moreover, Pakistan crediting China's J-10C jet in the Kashmir fight has visibly cast a shadow over the nascent detente. While Chinese officials condemned the April 22 attack in a call with India's National Security Advisor, the simultaneous reaffirmation of support for Pakistan's 'sovereignty and national dignity" in a call with the Pakistani Foreign Minister highlights the skewed game that China plays. We could not expect trust from China, but as things were thought to be improving, this was a new low. The enablement of Pakistan by Beijing negates any positive steps taken in bilateral dialogue and underlines that the only way this relationship could be labelled is 'strategic rivalry." The Economic Balancing Act Adding complexity to this fraught relationship is the significant economic interdependence, particularly India's reliance on trade with China. China remains India's second-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching US 131.84 billion in FY2024-25. Crucially, India faces a substantial and growing trade deficit reported at 99.2 billion. This economic reality presents a challenge for India, as maintaining its current high level of economic growth (projected at 6.5 per cent in 2025) and achieving its goal of becoming the world's third-largest economy by 2027, appears intertwined with its economic ties to China. Despite strategic tensions driven by border issues and China's Pakistan connection, India once again finds itself in a delicate balancing act. Aiming to become an alternative manufacturing hub, reducing its dependency, issues like reliance on Chinese components for domestic manufacturing (highlighted by the Apple shift example) demonstrate the difficulty of decoupling quickly. Furthermore, trade frictions, such as China's imposition of anti-dumping duties on Indian exports, continue to surface. This economic necessity compels engagement, but Chinese recklessness prevents this. It remains a transactional relationship, often fraught with underlying tension, rather than a cornerstone of a strategic partnership. Re-evaluating the Foundation The confluence of unresolved border disputes, growing economic asymmetry, and, most critically, China's strategic enablement of Pakistan forces a fundamental re-evaluation of the potential for a stable India-China relationship. The recent conflict underscores the paradoxical reality: attempts at diplomatic normalisation and tactical thaws are constantly undermined by China's deep-seated strategic alignment with a terror state, whose existence is now solely based, as it seems, is to continue asymmetrical warfare, while its citizens perish without food and even water. India operates with the understanding that the China-Pakistan nexus is a critical variable in its security planning, necessitating a focus on managing a 'two-front situation. This is why, even with Chinese enablement, we managed to reach our objectives without taking any significant damage. This strategic imperative has driven India to strengthen partnerships with countries across the Indo-Pacific and Europe and solidify ties with strategic partners like the United States. While diplomatic channels must remain open – particularly given the risks between two nuclear-armed neighbours – the recent events suggest that substantive progress towards genuine trust and cooperation is for naught. top videos View all The outlook for India-China ties, rather than aiming for normalisation, may need to focus on managing competition, exploring limited confidence-building measures, and realistically managing expectations. The central question remains: can India build a predictable, stable relationship with a power that actively arms and strategically assists its most significant regional adversary? Probably not. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. tags : India-China ties Pakistan-China Relations Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: May 20, 2025, 11:30 IST News opinion Modi's Challenge: Beijing's Pakistan Support And The Future Of India-China Ties | Opinion
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
China moved satellites to help Pakistan shoot down Indian jets
China helped Pakistan to move satellites and recalibrate its air defence systems before it shot down Indian fighter jets earlier this month, it has been claimed. The countries worked together to reorganise Pakistan's radar and air defence systems to track troop deployments and aerial movements by India, according to Ashok Kumar, the director general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies. 'It [China] helped them [Pakistan] to redeploy their air defence radar so that any actions which we [India] do from the aerial route is known to them,' he said. Mr Kumar, whose research group operates under the Indian ministry of defence, said the Chinese military advisers helped Pakistan to realign its satellite coverage over India following the April 22 terror attack in which 26 tourists were killed at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. India has blamed Pakistan and accused it of backing cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has denied any involvement and sought an international probe into the attack. On May 7, India's military struck sites in Pakistan and claimed to have destroyed nine terrorist camps, but Pakistan said 31 civilians were killed and that residential houses, mosques, and a power plant were targeted. In retaliation, Pakistan said it shot down six Indian warplanes during the bombardment, including three French-made Rafales. India has not commented on the specific losses. It followed another round of strikes, which rapidly escalated into the most serious clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in nearly five decades, involving supersonic missiles, drones, and cyber attacks. But hours after the initial Indian military strikes, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's foreign minister, told parliament that Islamabad had used Chinese jets, including J-10C, against India, with Beijing's ambassador called to his office over the deployment. 'At 4am in the morning, the whole Chinese team, led by their ambassador, was present at the foreign office,' he said. 'We apprised them about all the developments taken place until that time, and they were very happy,' he said. Pakistan also used a Chinese-made PL-15 missile, which has never been used in combat before. Its use has raised concerns among Beijing's rivals, including in Taiwan. China's government has not commented on the use of its equipment. Donald Trump, the US president, surprised many by announcing a 'full and immediate ceasefire' on May 10, which appears to be holding. According to Mr Kumar, China's help to Pakistan extended beyond logistics to strategic testing of its defence technologies in the Himalayan region. Mr Dar will arrive in Beijing on Monday on a three-day official visit to China, where he will hold 'in-depth discussions' with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, 'on the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability', his office said in a statement. 'The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,' it added. Dozens of Indian government websites are yet to be restored as Pakistan launched a cyber attack on nearly 1.5 million Indian websites and power infrastructure. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Deccan Herald
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
China gave Pakistan satellite support, Indian defense group says
China helped Pakistan reorganize its radar and air defense systems to more effectively detect India's deployments of troops and weaponry, Ashok Kumar, director general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, said in an interview.
Bloomberg
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
China Gave Pakistan Satellite Support, Indian Defense Group Says
China provided Pakistan with air defense and satellite support during its clash with India this month, according to a research group under India's Ministry of Defence, suggesting that Beijing was more directly involved in the conflict than was previously disclosed. China helped Pakistan reorganize its radar and air defense systems to more effectively detect India's deployments of troops and weaponry, Ashok Kumar, director general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, said in an interview.
