Pakistan-China Defence Deals & Threat to India. How?

Pakistan-China Defence Nexus: A Growing Strategic Threat to India's National Security

The evolving defence partnership between Pakistan and China represents one of the most significant strategic challenges to India's national security architecture in the 21st century. While both nations have long-standing historical, geopolitical, and ideological reasons to align against India, the past decade has seen their military collaboration reach unprecedented levels. China has emerged as Pakistan’s largest defence supplier, replacing the U.S. in providing key military systems, nuclear cooperation, cyber capabilities, and infrastructure development under the guise of economic aid and "strategic partnership." The partnership is symbolized by joint ventures like the JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, co-developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, which now forms the backbone of Pakistan’s air force. China has also supplied Pakistan with modern surface-to-air missile systems (HQ-16), advanced UAVs like Wing Loong II, Type 054A/P frigates, and other strategic assets. Additionally, China has helped Pakistan develop and maintain its nuclear arsenal, including missile technology and launch systems such as the Shaheen and Babur series, posing a direct threat to India's strategic deterrence. What’s more alarming is China’s deepening influence over Pakistan’s defence production capabilities, especially with the building of facilities like the Naval Shipyard at Karachi, ammunition factories, and PLA technical personnel embedded in key installations. These developments, coupled with Pakistan’s increasing economic dependence on China through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), allow Beijing to exert long-term strategic control over Islamabad’s policies, including its military posture toward India. The dual-use nature of infrastructure projects in Gilgit-Baltistan and Baluchistan, along with Chinese intelligence and surveillance outposts being set up near the Indian border, highlights the growing convergence of both countries' military strategies in South Asia. Beijing's strategic presence in Gwadar Port, combined with PLA Navy deployments in the Arabian Sea, gives China a foothold in India’s maritime backyard, threatening India’s naval dominance and sea lane security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This Pakistan-China military axis is not just a transactional arms relationship but a calibrated, long-term strategy aimed at containing India’s rise as a regional and global power.

India’s response to the Pakistan-China defence nexus has been cautious yet steadily assertive, combining military preparedness, strategic alliances, and infrastructure upgrades along both its western and eastern borders. The Indian armed forces are adapting to a two-front war scenario, with significant shifts in deployment, readiness, and modernization efforts. The Indian Army has fortified its presence in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir, deploying Rafale jets, S-400 air defence systems, upgraded tanks like T-90 Bhishma, and integrated battle groups (IBGs) for rapid mobilization. On the maritime front, India has strengthened its Andaman & Nicobar Command, deployed P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, and expanded its naval drills with QUAD allies — the U.S., Japan, and Australia — to deter Chinese expansion and safeguard Indian sea lanes. Intelligence sharing and defence technology cooperation with nations like Israel, France, and the U.S. have helped India maintain a technological edge despite challenges posed by the Sino-Pakistan alliance. Moreover, India is accelerating its own defence manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, developing indigenous systems like Tejas Mk1A, Arjun Mk-1A, BrahMos missiles, and hypersonic platforms, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers and reinforcing long-term strategic autonomy. Diplomatically, India has increased its engagement with Central Asian countries, Iran, and the Gulf, to isolate Pakistan and restrict China’s reach through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India’s concerns are also echoed in global strategic communities, as Western powers now openly acknowledge the China-Pakistan corridor as a geopolitical lever aimed at India. What makes the situation increasingly precarious is China’s aggressive posture along the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and Pakistan’s sustained proxy warfare in Kashmir, which raises the possibility of coordinated limited conflicts or simultaneous border flare-ups. With the PLA practicing joint drills with Pakistani forces, including naval and air interoperability, India’s military planners face an adversarial alliance that can stretch Indian forces across multiple theaters. To counter this, India is now focusing on multi-domain operations, cyber deterrence, space-based reconnaissance, and AI-driven combat systems to pre-empt hybrid threats. As the geopolitical chessboard in Asia evolves, the China-Pakistan defence axis remains a complex, persistent, and asymmetric threat to India’s aspirations of strategic dominance and regional stability.

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