Pakistan has come a long way in consolidating its defences and creating a robust conventional military deterrence. Our indigenously produced missile systems made up with superior technology at very low costs, particularly our Hatf-IX/NASR missile systems have enhanced our conventional military capabilities greatly. Pakistan’s military doctrine is defensive and is India focussed only. Our military and defensive capabilities are aimed at keeping India in check and maintaining a balance in the region. Whenever, India has attempted to disrupt the balance with the intention of establishing its dominance in the region, Pakistan has responded with a weapons test which nullifies India’s superiority. Pakistan’s major advantage is that it develops most of the decisive weapons itself, which means that they are developed keeping in mind our exact needs making them highly efficient and cost effective. Previously, Pakistan’s conventional arsenal was barely adequate to ward off India but even then Pakistan managed to keep India at bay, however, now our conventional military power has grown considerably making our defence almost impregnable. Pakistan army stands much stronger than before with our local industry catering to our needs of assault rifles along with tanks like Al-Khalid which was locally produced especially catering to the unique needs of Pakistan Army. On the other hand Pakistan Navy which has played key role in the defence of Pakistan in both 1965 and 1971 wars have come a long way since then. Previously, much like Pakistan army, our navy was also ill-equipped but now our navy is stronger than ever. With our submarine fleet and development of frigates alongside Turkey and China, our navy has the capability to ward off any threat that may challenge the security of Pakistan. Pakistan, it seems, has worked on a modernization and integration policy for its armed forces much before then its neighbour could make a move. Modernization and integration of the armed forces has gained momentum responding to the needs of CPEC projects. CPEC has raised the need of a strong navy and a strong air force to complement it. It is therefore, that the lacking of each armed force is being addressed to cater to the new development with regard to CPEC. Perhaps one of the biggest advantage of China Pakistan cooperation was the development of JF-17 thunder jets. These jets are modern and efficient jets which have been used to our aging fleet of jet fighters. The JF-17 thunder jets are a joint production of China and Pakistan which means that apart from addressing our defence needs it resulted in an increase in revenue stream for Pakistan as the revenue from the sale of this jet is shared by both Pakistan and China. In addition to these, Pakistan’s strategic forces command ensures that the armed forces receive the necessary support to ensure a strong defence for the country. Our ballistic missiles are very accurate and state of the art, furthermore the development of tactical nuclear arsenal has further strengthened our position. Our tactical nuclear arsenal was termed as the death of India’s cold start doctrine, whereas, the most recent induction of ly-80 air defence system by Pakistan has also nullified India’s advantage which it would have gained with S-400 defence system. In this way Pakistan is staying a step ahead of India in terms of its defences and conventional military power.
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