China-Pakistan Defence Cooperation: The Cost and Utility factor

The relations between the two countries date back to nearly six decades now. The friendship between the two nations is based on the mutual benefit of both countries. Islamabad serves Beijing’s ambitious long term geostrategic and geopolitical objectives. Also, for Pakistan, China has emerged as an ‘all-weather friend’ which has been providing it with diplomatic, economic, political and military support since a long time now.

The relations between the countries started brewing during the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962, wherein Pakistan came out in the support of China. The two countries also reached out a boundary dispute settlement in December of 1962, which led to the delineation of the international boundary between Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and People’s Republic of China (PRC). With this agreement, Pakistan ceded around 2500 miles of Aksai Chin area to China. In return, Pakistan gained some 750 sq. miles of the territory from China. The agreement can be considered as the foundation of deeper ties between the two countries.

Later, in the ‘Indo-Pak war’ of 1965, China helped Pakistan by supplying the military equipment including the ‘anti-tank missiles’ and ‘surface to air missiles. In 1971, when the ‘Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty’ was signed, the relations between the two countries got further intensified and deepened. In the aftermath of the nuclear test which was conducted by India in 1974, Pakistan received the support and assistance for the nuclear programme from China.

After the ‘Indo-US nuclear deal’ of 2008, the Sino-Pak relations rapidly intensified in various spheres. The event can also be considered as a game-changer for South-Asian politics as it was a clear recognition of India as the emerging and leading power centre in the Asian region. This shift of the US and rise of India as the regional power posed a serious challenge for Beijing and Islamabad and thereon, the nuclear cooperation between the two countries grew by a multiplier effect.

In 2013, the plans and the blueprint for the ‘China – Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC) were announced, which even preceded China’s ambitious ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI). The CPEC’s aim is to connect China with the Gwadar port through the multimodal route which includes rail and road network. The corridor also aims towards the generation of power in Pakistan, with other ‘long term plans’. The projects started in the year 2017 and are expected to complete by the year 2030, with an estimated cost of around $62 billion.

China-Pakistan Missile Development Program

China has been an important partner in the Pakistan missile development program by technology transfer and other technical support. During the 1990s, Beijing transferred M-9 and M-11 missiles to Islamabad. M-11 is a ‘Short-Range Ballistic Missile’ (SRBM) with the payload capacity of 800 Kg and range of around 300 Km and worked on ‘solid-fuel’ technology. M-9 is also an ‘SRBM’ with a payload capacity of around 750 kg and a range of 600-900 km. The missile was an important addition to the Islamabad’s weaponry as it could be equipped with chemical, nuclear, electromagnetic, or submunition warheads. 

China also provided technical support for the development of the ‘Shaheen’, solid propellant missile series which constitutes the core of Pakistan’s strategic weapons system. The design of the Shaheen series bear similarities with certain missiles of Chinese origin, like Shaheen I is identical to M-9 and Shaheen-II matches with that of M-18. However, there is no proof that Pakistan has acquired either missile from China. Beijing has also facilitated the transfer of the ballistic missiles from North Korea to Pakistan. The ‘Ghauri’ and ‘Ghauri III’ missiles of Pakistan appear to be based on the design of ‘Nodong’ and ‘Taepodong’ missiles of North Korea.

Pakistan also received considerable assistance from China for the production of ‘Fast Attack Craft’ (FAC) missiles namely ‘Azmat’ class, which are developed by the ‘Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Limited’ (KS&EW). The first FAC named as ‘PNS Azmat’ was launched in 2011 and was developed jointly by Xingang Shipyard and China Shipbuilding and Offshore Company (CSOC). Later, the Pakistan navy signed an agreement for the technology transfer with both the companies for building two more vessels at KS&EW. The FAC missiles can be used in anti-surface warfare, anti-piracy missions, maritime patrolling and other rescue operations. It is installed with the ‘quadruple missile launchers’ which can fire anti-ship cruise missiles, with the range of 120 km and the payload capacity of around 160 Kg highly explosive warhead.

Pakistan is also planning to buy HQ9/FD2000 (Hong Qi) missile system from China which is an air-defence system which has the capability of hitting the target of around 200 Kilometres and at the altitude of around 30 kilometres.

Naval Cooperation between China and Pakistan

 The cooperation at the naval front took a leap forward with China’s investment in the strategic Gwadar port. Beijing is investing in the development of the deep seaport since 2002 and the operations began in 2008. The deep seaport is also a part of the ambitious ‘String of Pearls’ strategy of China and is the centre point for the ‘Strait of Hormuz’, which is a very important chokepoint of the oil supply route in the world. The port’s geostrategic location of Gwadar port is very important for Beijing’s geopolitical ambitions in the Indian Ocean region.

China has also been providing support to the Pakistan Navy for a long time. In 2015, China formalised a deal to provide eight stealth S-20/Hangor submarines to Pakistan which are based on the Type 039 and Type 041 Yuan Class submarines. Four of them will be produced in China by the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) whereas the rest of the four submarines will be produced at Karachi Shipyard in Pakistan by the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) under the technology transfer agreement. S-20 will be the lighter export version of the Yuan Class submarine. There are speculations among the analysts that the original Sterling based Air Independent Propulsion System in the Yuan Class subs will be excluded from the S-20s and it will be procured independently, later on.

China-Pakistan cooperation in Air Supremacy

In 2006, China offered J-10B aircraft to Pakistan during a visit of Parvez Musharraf, the then Pakistani President. In 2009, China inked a deal with Pakistan to provide 36 J-10B aircraft which were to be modified as per the Pakistani requirements and were named ‘FC-20.’ Such reports again surfaced in 2011 and 2012. It was reported in 2016 that the J-10B procurement deal had been cancelled and the two countries would be cooperating on JF-17 instead. With the arrival of the first batch of Dassault Rafale in India, Pakistan has resumed the talks with China for the acquisition of the latest J-10CE aircraft along with the PL-10 and PL-15 series missiles which are short-range and long-range air-to-air missiles, respectively. J-10CE is ‘4++ generation’ single-engine fighter aircraft which is being widely accepted as the most capable single-engine aircraft of the world in the “4++ generation’ category. However, it is widely reported that the initial J-10 were hugely benefitted by the ‘Lavi’ project of the US and Israel. The US, later, withdrew from the project. The project owed a resemblance to the American F-16.

In 2008, it was reported by some Pakistani media agencies that China has offered J-11 series fighter jets to Pakistan which is based on the Russian Su-27 aircraft which is also a predecessor of Su-30. However, no such progress has been made in this field since then. Moreover, Pakistan and China are engaged in talks for a future deal regarding FC-31 fighter which is equipped with stealth technology. Its capabilities are similar to the American F-35 and Russian Su-35.

Since 1995, China and Pakistan are jointly working on a single-engine multi-role aircraft, JF-17/Joint Fighter-17. The project is being led by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) of China and Pakistan respectively. It was planned to replace the ageing fleet of Pakistan Air Force. Russian aerospace company Mikoyan/MiG provided the design support for the JF-17. The JF-17 has proved to be cheap and competitive alternative to the Western jets of the same category which are quite expensive as compared to it. The first batch of JF-17 took its maiden flight in March 2007. The JF-17 is a multi-role fighter which has the required weaponry for air to air combat including Beyond Visual Range tracking and delivery system, short-range missiles of fifth-generation along with the air to ground attack weaponry including Ra’ad Air-Launched Cruise Missile which can provide a standoff nuclear capability to JF-17. It can also carry guided/unguided bombs along with the anti-ship missiles. It has also the capabilities to support the Pakistan Navy in its Maritime Operations. Pakistan and China are continuously ramping up the mass-production infrastructure in order to boost the exports of the JF-17, mainly to the Islamic countries. In 2016, the Nigerian government confirmed about the procurement of three JF-17 fighters from Pakistan. In 2015, Myanmar inked a deal for the acquisition of 16 JF-17 with Pakistan and China. The latest variant of JF-17 i.e. JF-17 A Block 3 is the most lethal fighter in the series. It is ‘4+ generation’ aircraft. It is equipped with the AESA Radar which is the ‘gold-standard’ technology in the radar systems. It is provided with improved avionics and a new engine which provides it with a speed of Mach 2.0+. Moreover, it has the capability to deploy electronic suite, and conduct electronic warfare. The composite materials are extensively used which decreases its radar cross-section and provides better maneuverability.

Sino-Pak Nuclear Cooperation

China cooperation to Pakistan’s nuclear program started in the 1970s and was mainly driven by the geostrategic, economic and political factors. Beijing always wanted to develop stable ties with Islamabad, majorly for the maintenance of the balance of power in the region with respect to India. The two countries started with cooperating in the sphere of civil nuclear energy, wherein China helped Pakistan in the development of nuclear technology for energy production.

In 1986, an agreement was signed between the two countries through which technical and logistical support for the development of nuclear power reactors along with the technical help for uranium enrichment was provided by China, which proved critical in the development of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant-1 (C-1) and Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (C-2) which became operational in 2005 and 2011 respectively. Later, ‘Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission’ (PAEC) and ‘China National Nuclear Corporation’ (CNNC) agreed to develop two more reactors ‘Chashma-3’ (C-3) and ‘Chashma-4’ (C-4) which are functional from 2016 and 2017 and have the capacity of around 315 MW. Currently, the two countries are working on the development of ‘Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-2’ (K-2) and ‘Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-3’ (K-3), with the net of 1000 MW each and are expected to be operational by the end of 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Way Forward

The Sino-Pak relations are continuous, maintained and well organised, which will probably grow with the same spirit in the future as well. The common interest of both the countries in the region and the hostility towards India forms the bedrock of the relationship between the two nations. The cooperation in the defence trade and military cooperation in all the spheres have created the mutual trust and affinity, which is unusually strong as China does not share the same equation with any other country in the region.

As per the SIPRI, “Pakistan is the main recipient of Chinese arms with the share of around 35%” and “China accounted for 51 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2010–14 and 73 per cent in 2015–19”. The increasing shift of Pakistan towards China can also be attributed to the decision of the US wherein it has stopped the military aid to Pakistan

With the rise of China as a major regional power, the international geopolitical construct has seen a drastic modification in which previous alliances are being abandoned and the new ones are being formed. With a steep decline in the US-Pakistan relations, China came out as the closest strategic ally of Pakistan and provided the necessary diplomatic and strategic help to Pakistan in almost every platform and domain ranging from terrorism allegations in the UN to providing strategic weapon system to check India’s rise in South Asia.

References:

1.       https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/df-15-css-6/

2.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DF-11

3.      https://merics.org/en/analysis/bri-pakistan-chinas-flagship-economic-corridor

4.     https://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/values.php

5.      https://quwa.org/2019/11/27/pakistans-ksew-launches-fourth-fast-attack-craft-missile/

6.     https://londonchurchillcollege.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/JCDMS-V7-MASTER-FILE-FINALD10-260819_Final-Copy.pdf#page=53

7.      https://www.theweek.in/news/world/2019/12/27/pakistan-navy-tests-multiple-missiles-including-land-attack-weapons.html

8.     https://www.flightglobal.com/pakistan-signs-deal-for-chinese-j-10-fighters/90179.article

9.     https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/175737/Policy%20Brief%20-%202013-12-31%20-%20Airpower%20Across%20the%20Himalayas.pdf

10.   https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/a-second-front-against-india-could-china-sell-used-j-10a-b-fourth-generation-fighters-to-pakistan

11.     https://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/Pakistan-Buying-Chinese-J-10-Fighters-05937/

12.    http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Sinocanard.html

13.    https://eurasiantimes.com/pakistan-could-acquire-semi-stealth-4-5-gen-jets-from-china-to-counter-indian-build-up-of-rafales/

14.   https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/pakistan-reaches-out-to-china-for-more-fighters-and-missiles/648512#:~:text=The%20J%2D10CE%20is%20the,%2Dchanger%2C%20Pakistan%20has%20realised.

Pic Courtesy-JF-17.com(The picture is for representational purposes only)

(The views expressed are personal.)