The National Day celebrations of Pakistan on March 23 rarely evoke interest among people beyond the confines of its borders. However, reports of a set of Chinese J-10 fighter jets’ arrival in Islamabad for a fly-past, as part of the celebrations, have forced India to focus on its deeper significance.
The J-10 fighter jets are part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s Bayi Aerobatic Team. It has performed earlier in Balochistan in 2017. But, trailing the slipstream of India-Pakistan tension in the past month and China’s recent action in the United Nations at Pakistan’s behest, this year’s acrobatic manoeuvres take place in a piquant atmosphere.
Pakistan has been chafing under an Indian diplomatic onslaught ever since the Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the February 14 ‘fidayeen’ attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 personnel in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Consequently, on February 27, India carried out an airstrike deep inside Pakistani territory in Balakot,...
