Pakistan has acquired a full squadron of 25 multirole J-10C fighter jets from its all weather ally China in res🉐ponse to India’s purchase of Rafale aircraft, Interior M💯inister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said.
Speaking to the media in hꦺis home ci🦄ty of Rawalpindi on Wednesday, Rashid said that a full squadron of 25 all-weather aircraft comprising J-10C will attend the Pakistan Day ceremony on March 23 next year.
Apparently, China has co🍒me to the rescue of its closest ally by providing J-10C, one of its highly reliaဣble fighter jets.
The minister, who often characterises 💞himself a ‘graduate of Urdu-medium institutions’ to poke fun at hi𝔉s elite English-medium colleagues, incorrectly pronounced the name of the aircraft as JS-10 instead of J-10C.
“VIP guests are coming (to attend 23rd March ceremony)🌄 for the first time in Pakistan, the fly-past ceremony of JS-10 (J-10C) is being held… Pakistan Air Force is going to perform the fly-past of China’s JS-10𒆙 (J-10C) aircraft in response to Rafale,” Rashid said.
The J-10C aircraft were part of the Pak-China joint exercise last year, where experts from Pakistan had the opportunity to have a close look at the fighter🧜 j🧸ets.
The joint exercises started ♚on December 7 in Pakistan and lasted about 20 days, with China sending warplanes 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, which is considered a good match for Rafale, but it was looking for a new multirole all-weather jet to augment its defence after India purchased Rafale jets from France.
Nea꧟rly five years ago, India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to purchase 36 Rafale jets under a Rs 59,000-crore deal to boost the Indian Air Force's combat capabilities.
