Pakistan to invest $9 billion in defence after India clash, cementing reliance on Chinese arms

Pakistan plans to increase its defence budget by 17% in the upcoming fiscal year, following last month’s deadly flare-up with neighbouring India — a move poised to further deepen Islamabad’s military ties with China.

According to budget documents released by the Finance Ministry on June 10, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government intends to allocate 2.55 trillion rupees (approximately $9 billion) for defence spending, up from a revised 2.18 trillion rupees this year, Caliber.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.

Defence will be the second-largest expenditure after debt servicing, as Sharif attempts to streamline the rest of the budget to remain aligned with the International Monetary Fund’s loan program requirements.

The hike comes on the heels of the most intense military confrontation between the nuclear-armed rivals in decades. The four-day conflict saw both nations exchange drone and missile strikes, following an April assault by unidentified gunmen in the India-administered Jammu and Kashmir region that left 26 civilians dead. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for the attack, a claim Pakistan strongly denies.

During the skirmish, Pakistan deployed its Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets, downing six Indian aircraft, including three French-built Rafales — a significant development that has cast Chinese arms in a new light. While India has acknowledged the loss of an unspecified number of jets, it has not confirmed the details.

The successful performance of Chinese military hardware is reshaping long-standing perceptions about the technological inferiority of Chinese weapons compared to their Western counterparts. In response, Beijing has reportedly offered Islamabad an expanded defence package, including 40 J-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control systems, and HQ-19 ballistic missile defence units.

Pakistan has increasingly turned to China for military equipment. From 2019 to 2023, Chinese arms accounted for 82% of Pakistan’s imports, up from 51% during 2009–2012, according to arms transfer data.

By Khagan Isayev