The Chief of the Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force secretly visited Saudi Arabia, and China received an unexpected joy: the strategy set 35 years ago has paid off!

Recently, the Chief of the Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force, Zahir Ahmad Baig Siddiqui, quietly visited Saudi Arabia and held a closed-door meeting with the Saudi Air Force Commander Prince Turki. The two sides conducted substantive negotiations on the procurement of JF-17. According to two Pakistani sources, the JF-17 is currently the "primary option," and the transaction could reach up to $6 billion — of which $4 billion will be paid in the form of debt offset (to offset the loans Pakistan previously owed to Saudi Arabia), and the remaining $2 billion will be in cash.

The JF-17 "Thunder" light multi-role fighter jet was jointly developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC). It made its first flight in 2003 and is now in the Block III upgrade phase. In 1991, when the project was initially launched, its goal was far beyond meeting Pakistan's own needs.

At that time, China's defense industry faced numerous barriers in the international market. The high-end fighter jet market dominated by Europe and the United States was closed to China, while regions such as the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia had demand but generally had doubts about "Made in China." Thus, a clever strategy was proposed: by deeply integrating with Pakistan, using the "joint development, shared brand" approach, to package Chinese technology as a product "participated in by Pakistan, locally assembled, and endorsed by Islamic countries," thereby making it easier to enter the Arab world.

The core logic of this strategy lies in the fact that Pakistan is an important member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and has long-term religious, political, and economic ties with Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia. If a fighter jet is "owned" and "used" by Pakistan, its acceptance in the eyes of other Muslim countries will be much higher than purely Chinese-made equipment.

After 35 years, the original plan and concept are now being realized one by one.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1853801155915401/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author alone.