China on Thursday told Pakistan's new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that it will always put its "all-weather ally" as a priority in its neighbourhood diplomacy as it praised his commitment to promote the USD 60 billion CPEC initiative.
Designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), the frigate was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai, according to Global Times.
The Fujian was launched at a brief ceremony held at the Shanghai shipyard, the official media reported from the eastern metropolis.
A fleet of eight JF-17 Thunder fighter jets -- jointly made by the two countries -- will escort the Chinese president once his plane enters the Pakistani airspace.
The president is also of the view that the Gwadar port project in Balochistan will be affected if he leaves the scene and consequently, Pakistan's "time-tested relations with China could suffer a setback", official sources told the Dawn newspaper. Musharraf also believes that in his absence, no leader or party will be "able to maintain cordial relations with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement," they said.
Beijing's political risks are also escalating because of a renewed wave of public anger in many parts of Balochistan against human rights abuses by Pakistani troops deployed to crush the low-intensity insurgency in the province, the report said.
Six decades of complaints about 'foreign involvement' in creating unrest in Balochistan has done no good to Pakistan neither have its intermittent military operations in the province. Islamabad has resorted to repressive measures to muzzle the Baloch demand for greater autonomy and right of ownership of its natural resources. This has not worked.
Talking about 'Chinese designs on the Indian Ocean,' Naval cMehta said China had a strategy called `String of Pearls,' as per which it seeks to set up bases and outposts across the globe, strategically located along its energy lines, to monitor and saefeguard energy flows. "Each pearl in the string is a link in a chain of the Chinese maritime presence," he said. "Among other locations, the string moves northwards up to the Gwadar deep sea port on Pakistan's Makran coast.
India's Ministry of External Affairs said on Wednesday the bus service will be a violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
'It makes a lot of sense to keep nuclear assets at sea and the Indian government has said it will do so,' Admiral Madhavendra Singh told a magazine.
The launching ceremony for the first warship was held at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on Sunday. Pakistan-China defence ties turn a new chapter with the launch of the first ship of Type-054 class frigate, Pakistan's state-run APP news agency reported.
China and Pakistan on Friday signed eight agreements, including a whopping $18 billion deal to build a 200 km-long strategic tunnel through the rugged PoK, as the two all-weather allies sought to boost economic ties and supply critical oil to the energy-hungry Communist giant.
China hiked its annual defence budget by 7.1 per cent.
'By causing military humiliation of India it intends to send a signal to other Asian countries to toe the Chinese line,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The attack took place at around 0940 IST as 12 Chinese engineers were being transported by a coach to Gwadar port, about 500 kilometers west of Karachi, near the border with Iran, Sattar Lasi, the chief of police in Gwadar said.
Team Taiwan won't be at Winter Games opening ceremony
Police said that Pakistan-based Anees Ibrahim, who is brother of Dawood Ibrahim, was connected with the underworld operatives to execute the terror plan.
Chinese companies have large interests and investments in the Pakistan Stock Exchange.
Three terrorists attempted a forced entry into the hotel. A guard at the entrance challenged them after which the terrorists opened fire and killed him, the army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations said.
India has voiced its strong opposition to China's Belt and Road Initiative and its flagship project -- the CPEC -- at the just concluded second UN Sustainable Transport Conference where the Indian diplomat's mike curiously went silent while she was highlighting New Delhi's objection to the controversial projects.
The Sino-Pakistan relationship remains fundamentally asymmetrical: Pakistan wants more out of its ties with China than China is willing to offer. Today, when Pakistan's domestic problems are gargantuan, China would be very cautious in involving itself even more, says Harsh V Pant.
President Trump, in a move that could have implications on India's energy security, on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity.
In an address at the Global Dialogue Security Forum, he underlined the need for India to put greater focus on having strong bilateral, trilateral and multilateral arrangements with like-minded countries to maximise its strategic leverage in the region.
In a move that is bound to raise hackles in India, Pakistan is working on raising the constitutional status of its occupied Gilgit-Baltistan to address China's concerns over the $46-billion economic corridor through the strategic region.
"India should share the fruits of future development by shelving the anti-Pakistan activities and subversion," Lieutenant General Aamir Riaz said.
China's growing concern over the existence of terror training camps in Pakistan, establishment of an energy corridor and firming up of nuclear energy cooperation will come up for discussion during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's talks with the Chinese leadership in Beijing.
French naval commander expresses concern over China expanding its maritime influence in the region.
The master plan reveals a far more expansive project involving Chinese penetration into Pakistan's agriculture, industry, telecommunications, surveillance and intelligence networks and even leisure and popular culture.
Modi talking about Balochistan, PoK and Gilgit is a tectonic shift in India's policy towards Pakistan, says Abhay Jere.
In a veiled attack on India, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif on Saturday accused it of "creating instability" through ceasefire violations and supporting militancy in different areas of the country.
The Indian Navy has deployed a range of its frontline warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region to send a clear message to China following the escalation of the border dispute in eastern Ladakh.
'The separatist resurgence in Balochistan is thwarting Pakistan's plans to build CPEC projects to optimally utilise Balochistan's energy reserves,' points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Iran's decision to keep India out and welcome China to the scene is a huge strategic setback for India, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'India has to ensure its borders are properly sealed and there is no infiltration from PoK.
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China feels "awkward" about the 2008 Mumbai terror attack carried out by Pakistani militants and wants to address India's concerns over terrorism emanating from Pakistan in a more "constructive way", a Chinese official said in a rare criticism of the all-weather ally.
Among others, China is developing the strategically located Gwadar port in Balochistan, which is aimed towards having a military presence, says a Pentagon report
China on Monday dodged a direct response to reports of presence of the People's Liberation Army's troops at a forward post in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said it "regretted" that the media keeps "popping up" stories of incursions into the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control.
India on Monday voiced its concern to China over its plan to build a multi-billion dollar Economic Corridor to Pakistan through POK, even as it assured Beijing of its commitment to consolidate strategic bilateral ties.
It is the country's second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning, and the first to be made domestically.
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