China has sent fighter jets and troops to a Pakistani air base near the Gujarat border to participate in the latest edition of a bilateral military exercise, the Chinese military announced on Monday, saying the air force exercise was aimed at improving the “actual combat training”. of the two forces.
“Chinese air force troops departed on December 7 for the Pakistani Air Force air base at Bholari in Thatta district of Sindh, northeast of Pakistan’s Karachi, to participate in the Joint Air Force Exercise China-Pakistan Shaheen (Eagle) – IX ‘, “said a statement from the People’s Liberation Army.
The latest edition of the drill will take place in the context of the ongoing border friction between India and China along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
China’s short statement on Shaheen-IX did not give details of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) deployment for the exercise with Pakistan, but said it will conclude by the end of December.
“The joint exercise of the air force, which will conclude at the end of December, is a project within the 2020 cooperation plan of the two armies,” he said.
“It will promote the development of China-Pakistan thousand-to-thousand [military to military] relations, deepen practical cooperation between the two air forces and improve the level of actual combat training of the two sides, ”the statement added.
The latest edition of the Shaheen drill, which was held in Xinjiang in China in September 2019, was the largest with nearly 50 fighter jets from the two countries participating in it.
Satellite imagery expert Twitter user @detresfa tweeted on Monday night that … a #China AirForce (PLAAF) Y20 heavy cargo aircraft was seen descending towards #Pakistan near the Bholari airbase, along with with another unknown aircraft (alleged PLAAF) following the same route. The aircraft are suspected of supporting a joint exercise ”.
The PLAAF is said to have deployed fighter jets near LAC with India.
A state media report last week said a large number of Chinese fighter jets recently conducted a series of intensive exercises around a Western Theater Command, which oversees China’s disputed border with India, Air Force Base. , which is located at an important strategic point in northwest China.
“The exercises were refined and demonstrated the ability of the Chinese military to safeguard the country’s western air defense border,” the state media report added.
The Bholari Air Base of the Pakistani Air Force was opened in December 2017.
Sohail Aman, then head of the Pakistan air force, called the Bholari project “strategic importance” and said: “In fact, the PAF Bholari base is a project of strategic importance for the enhancement of the Pakistani Air Force capacity. in the operational domain both by land and by sea ”.
Aman was quoted by Pakistani media as saying at the unveiling that the Bholari base would also augment and complement the very important maritime operations carried out by the Pakistani Navy, as well as playing a “key role in safeguarding the Corridor project China-Pakistan Economic (CPEC) “.
In the latest edition of Exercise Shaheen held in Xinjiang near LAC, dozens of fighter jets from the two countries participated in mock battles, according to the PLA Air Force statement.
State media had called Shaheen’s 2019 edition “unprecedented.”
.
