Thread by @soldierspeaks

Q: How do you see security cooperation with China progressing in the next decade?
COAS:
▫️We are not looking for camp politics.
▫️We had historically excellent relations with US. The good army we have today is largely built and trained by US. The best eqpt we have is US equipment

We still have deep cooperation with US and our Western friends. A month back American Air Force was here for a huge exercise with our Air Force.
▫️China of course is a very important neighbour and has helped us in many ways. Our military cooperation with China is growing because

we are denied equipment from the West. Many of the deals which were concluded have been cancelled. So what do we do. I shall just give you an example: We bought T129 helicopters from Turkey, it's a very good machine, the deal was signed, it's a defensive weapon, it's a gunship...

but the engine was of American origin so the Americans refused to give the third party certification. So what do we do? Either we wait or go somewhere else; either go to Russia or go to China. We will prefer to maintain a balance. Similarly we were looking for some submarines and

the Germans were suppose to give the engines and everything was done. When the submarines were ready, Germans refused to give us the engines. France has done the same of course under the Indian pressure because India is a big buyer. So what do you do? It is your responsibility to

to maintain the balance. If u are tilted towards one side outrightly, we'll find sources from where we can get weapons to save our self. You need to carry out introspection, whether your policy is right or not. We have been your allies for a very long time, we were part of SEATO,

CENTO & Baghdad pact, we supported you in Vietnam, we supported you in Afghanistan, we helped you dismantle the erstwhile Soviet Union and the muck you created yesterday we are trying to clean that. So we have paid a lot of cost. What are you doing about us. I must ask you the

question. Are u maintaining a balanced approach or not.
▫️CPEC is a very important development. There was a problem in Pakistan that we had shortage of electricity, huge shortages. No body was coming forward because there was lot of terrorism so Chinese stepped forward and they

took the risk and they built these plants. But it doesn't mean that Pakistan is a no go area, if you feel that there is too much of a Chinese influence in Pakistan, the only way to counter is by bringing in the counter investment. Who stops you? We welcome any investment.

Few days back Berrick Gold has signed the deal in which they are going to explore a huge copper mine. Berrick Gold is a Canadian company, the Canadian Ambassador is sitting here. So we will welcome the investment and cooperation from the entire world.

#COAS #GenBajwa