China to supply AWACS aircraft to Pakistan
18 Dec 2008
Islamabad: Teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, Pakistan has now struck an agreement with China for the purchase of an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) at a cost of $278 million. Delivery, according to newspaper reports, is scheduled over a period of four years, on a deferred payment basis.
The News newspaper said Pakistan would be the first country to buy the Chinese AWACS system, which China began producing only in 2004.
Pakistani defence officials were not immediately available for comment.
Pakistan and China signed a memorandum of understanding in November 2006 for long-term collaboration in defence production, including development of an airborne early warning surveillance system.
China and Pakistan are strategic allies and this communist nation has also been Pakistan's biggest supplier of defence equipment. It has also been accused of passing on nuclear weapons and missile technology to Pakistan.
Only last month, Pakistan was granted a $7.6 billion loan by the International Monetary Fund to fend off a balance of payments crisis and prevent the government defaulting on international debt.
The news comes even as the country is desperately fending off universal condemnation for harbouring a deep rooted terrorist infrastructure with links to its military intelligence.