Pakistan and China should Expand New Fields of Military Cooperation: Chinese Defense Minister

 

Image Credit: Google/Dawn

    Chief of Pakistan’s Navy, Amjad Khan Niazi is visiting China in the follow up of long standing bilateral defense ties between the two countries. Their navies and air forces held military exercises together for several times.

    The Naval Chief of Pakistan was hosted by Chinese defense Minister, Li Shangfu where he was told by Li, that both the militaries, particularly Navies, should expand their cooperation into the new fields.

    By further adding that, he said, military cooperation is the major part of bilateral ties between the two countries, and this cooperation should expand to the new areas of exchanges, and at point of high-level cooperation where they can deal with all sorts of risks and challenges together. In addition, they can also jointly maintain security interests, including the regional security at large. 

    The China has so far not indicated about the military access of Gwadar but its interests in the region have stirred concerns, particularly among India and US. For China, geostrategic location of Pakistan and its access to the Arabia Sea is very important due to shaky environment in the Strait of Malacca.

    The Pentagon have also indicated previously about Chinese possible access to Pakistan’s warm waters, and Gwadar’s location suits China to achieve its desired goals. 

    Furthermore, strengthening of defense ties between Islamabad and Beijing could make New-Delhi more worry. Because, in a similar move in 2022, when China docked its submarine and a military warship in strategic Port of Sri Lanka, India seemed not happy over it.

(Courtesy: Dawn/Website-Foreign Ministry of China)