China’s Foreign Ministry criticised Donald Trump’s move to provide F35 stealth fighter jets to India
Beijing: China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticized US President Donald Trump’s claim that his administration is laying the groundwork for India to receive F-35 stealth fighters, arguing that the Asia-Pacific region is a “stellar example of peace and development, not an arena for geopolitical games.”
Additionally, he said that security would not be achieved by creating “exclusive groupings” or playing geopolitical games.
Guo said at a routine news conference on Friday that “no one should make China an issue in the relations and cooperation between countries, or seek to instigate bloc politics and confrontation.”
“The Asia-Pacific region is a shining example of peace and progress, not a stage for geopolitical games,” he said. The Asia-Pacific region and the whole globe will not remain peaceful and stable if people band together to create exclusive groups and engage in bloc politics and conflict.
Guo said that international collaboration shouldn’t be directed at third parties or hurt other people’s interests when questioned about the US and India’s decision to deepen their defense relations and start the US-India COMPACT program, which aims to advance military cooperation.
“Let me reiterate that China believes that relations and cooperation between countries should not target any third party or harm others’ interests and should be conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity,” Guo said.
Pakistan also voiced worries on Friday, claiming that the action could upset the military balance in the area, jeopardize strategic stability, and impede attempts to bring about enduring peace in South Asia.
A grumpy Additionally, Pakistan cautioned its foreign allies against adopting a “one-sided view that deviates from ground realities.”
“Pakistan is extremely concerned about the planned transfer of advanced military technologies to India,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday during a weekly news conference. Such actions jeopardize strategic stability and highlight regional military asymmetries.
“They continue to be ineffective in attaining the goal of a lasting peace in South Asia,” he said. We urge our foreign allies to avoid supporting stances that are biased and disconnected from the realities on the ground and to adopt a comprehensive and impartial approach to South Asian peace and security concerns.”
“We will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars starting this year,” Trump said during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday after their bilateral discussions. Additionally, we are clearing the path for India to eventually get F-35 stealth aircraft.
“There is a process by which platforms are acquired on military sales to India,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said at a news conference when asked whether India has decided to buy F-35s from America after Trump’s statement. In most situations, a call for bids is issued. To them, there are answers. They are assessed. In my opinion, the process of India acquiring a cutting-edge aviation platform has not yet begun. As a result, this is now in the proposal stage. However, I don’t believe that the official procedure in this respect has begun yet.
The Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) is a new defense cooperation project between the United States and India. In order to promote next-generation defense and technical cooperation, particularly in the area of underwater domain awareness, this alliance seeks to expand industrial collaborations and improve the manufacturing of autonomous systems.
With a focus on improved training, exercises, and operations using the newest technology, India and the US also spoke about expanding military cooperation across a variety of domains, including air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace.
The next “Tiger Triumph” tri-service exercise, which will take place in India and is bigger and more intricate than its past iterations, was also noted by both leaders. India and the US are dedicated to enhancing force mobility, information sharing, and logistics in the Indo-Pacific region to enable military deployments abroad.
PM Modi and President Trump inaugurated the “US-India COMPACT for the 21st Century” program to promote “Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology” between the two nations.
