Not sells. Gives. As in, “Here ya go, former US ally.”
China has agreed to immediately provide 50 JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan, a major outcome of a visit by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to Beijing this week, Pakistani officials said Thursday.
China and Pakistan have jointly produced the JF-17 aircraft, but the new planes would be equipped with more sophisticated avionics, the officials said. The latest jet fighters would be paid for by China, they said.
The announcement came as Pakistan’s already tense relations with the United States soured further after the killing of Osama bin Laden deep inside Pakistan on May 2.
The Obama administration made the right call (not necessarily “gutsy,” but right) to get bin Laden. Pakistan hasn’t been a real, true ally for years if it ever was. But making the right call is no guarantee that everyone will love you or praise you. Especially those who have been doing the wrong thing for years, as Pakistan has.
The next logical move would be for the US to cut off aid to Pakistan and warm up relations with India.
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