Islamabad:
Pakistan has acquired a full squadron of 25 Chinese multirole J-10C fighter jets in response to India’s purchase of Rafale aircraft, Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said on Wednesday.
The minister told reporters in his home city of Rawalpindi that a full squadron of 25 all-weather aircraft consisting of J-10C will attend the Pakistan Day ceremony on March 23 next year.
Apparently, China has come to the rescue of its closest ally by supplying J-10C, one of its highly reliable fighter jets.
The minister, who often calls himself a “graduate of Urdu medium institutions” to mock his elite English medium colleagues, erroneously pronounced the aircraft’s name JS-10 instead of J-10C.
“VIP guests come (to attend the March 23 ceremony) for the first time in Pakistan, JS-10 (J-10C) fly-past ceremony is held. Pakistan Air Force is going to conduct the fly-past of China’s JS-10 (J-10C) aircraft in response to Rafale,” said Mr Ahmed.
The J-10C aircraft were part of the joint Pak-China exercise last year, where experts from Pakistan were able to get a closer look at the fighter jets.
The joint exercises began on December 7 in Pakistan and lasted for about 20 days, with China sending fighters including J-10C, J-11B jets, KJ-500 early warning aircraft and Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, while Pakistan participated with the JF-17 and Mirage III fighter jets.
Pakistan had a fleet of US-made F-16s, but it was looking for a new versatile all-weather jet to bolster its defenses after India bought Rafale jets from France.
Nearly five years ago, India signed an intergovernmental agreement with France to purchase 36 Rafale jets to increase the combat capabilities of the Indian Air Force.