India Should Stop Looking At China Through The Pakistan Prism

At one point, India must stop regarding China solely through its staunch support of Pakistan

- Pranay Sharma

The National Day celebrations of Pakistan on March 23 rarely evoke interest among people beyond the confines of its borders. However, reports of a set of Chinese J-10 fighter jets’ arrival in Islamabad for a fly-past, as part of the celebrations, have forced India to focus on its deeper significance.

The J-10 fighter jets are part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s Bayi Aerobatic Team. It has performed earlier in Balochistan in 2017. But, trailing the slipstream of India- Pakistan tension in the past month and China’s recent action in the United Nations at Pakistan’s behest, this year’s acrobatic manoeuvres take place in a piquant atmosphere.

Pakistan has been chafing under an Indian diplomatic onslaught ever since the Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the February 14 ‘fidayeen’ attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Consequently, on February 27, India carried out an airstrike deep inside Pakistani territory in Balakot, where the JeM’s training facilities were located. When Pakistani fighter jets entered Indian airspace the next day and tried to target Indian military installations, they were driven away by the Indian Air Force, which lost a fighter jet after shooting down a Pakistani F16. Troops on both sides of the border have been put on high alert ever since, marking yet another sharp spike in tensions in bilateral ties.

This being the lurid backdrop of the arrival of the PLA’s J-10 fighter jets in Pakistan, what kind of signal does Beijing intend to send, especially when New Delhi is making all efforts to isolate Islamabad at the international level?