Pakistan, China to continue expansion in defence, aviation collaboration: Zardari

President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday reaffirmed that Pakistan and China would continue to expand collaboration in defence production and aviation, further deepening their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership.
He made these remarks during his visit to Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) — China’s flagship aerospace and defence conglomerate engaged in the design and production of a wide range of military and civilian aircraft.
His visit came on the 128th day since the ceasefire with India — brokered by the United States following four-day armed conflict in the wake of terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) Pahalgam area.
His visit also marked a historic first, as no foreign head of state had previously visited the AVIC complex.
During the visit to AVIC, the president was accompanied by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, First Lady Aseefa Bhutto, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi and China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong, who is travelling with the president throughout the visit.
He said the J-10 and JF-17 had greatly strengthened Pakistan Air Force, a fact clearly demonstrated during Ma‘raka-e-Haq and Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos — launched against Indian aggression.
Zardari toured the sprawling complex in its entirety, which produces the J-10C fighter jet that played a crucial role during the recent conflict. He also met AVIC’s engineers and scientists, listening to their insights on innovation, production and future technologies. President Zardari was briefed on AVIC’s advanced capabilities, including the J-10 fighter jet, the co-production of the JF-17 Thunder with Pakistan, as well as progress in the J-20 stealth 5th-generation fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, fully automated units, and integrated command-and-control systems for modern multi-domain operations.
He lauded AVIC as a symbol of China’s technological advancement and of the enduring strategic partnership between Pakistan and China.