The recent conflict between India and Pakistan brought the global attention on China’s significant weapons exports to Pakistan, particularly in the air defence domain. Pakistan’s primary air defence weapons used during the conflict such as J-10C and JF-17 aircrafts along with the HQ-9 air defence system and PL-15 missiles are all developed and produced by China’s state-owned enterprises. Pakistan imported advanced versions of these weapons in large quantity particularly after the 2019 Balakot strike conducted by India as it demonstrated India’s capacity to circumvent Pakistan’s air defence.
Prepared by
Omkar Bhole
Omkar Bhole is a Senior Research Associate at the Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA). He has studied Chinese language up to HSK4 and completed Masters in China Studies from Somaiya University, Mumbai. He has previously worked as a Chinese language instructor in Mumbai and Pune. His research interests are India’s neighbourhood policy, China’s foreign policy in South Asia, economic transformation and current dynamics of Chinese economy and its domestic politics. He was previously associated with the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) and What China Reads. He has also presented papers at several conferences on China. Omkar is currently working on understanding China’s Digital Yuan initiative and its implications for the South Asian region including India. He can be reached at [email protected] and @bhole_omkar on Twitter.