By Franz-Stefan Gady
Sri Lanka and Pakistan agreed to the deal on the second of day of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Colombo.
During a three-day state visit to Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sealed a landmark deal for the purchase of eight Pakistan Aeronautical Complex/Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (PAC/CAC) JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft.
This defense deal would make Sri Lanka the first international customer of the fighter jet, although reports have also emerged this week that Nigeria will likewise acquire three PAC/CAC JF-17 Thunder multirole fighters in 2016, based on information obtained by a Nigerian newspaper.
As of now, there is no official confirmation of the deal, which might imply that a legal contract has yet to be signed. Pakistan has sought deeper defense ties with Sri Lanka for some time. “I conveyed our desire for more frequent port calls, participation in military exercises and defense seminars and training of military personnel,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif purportedly said while in Sri Lanka this week, according to Defense News.
The agreement over the procurement of the JF-17 fighter jets happened despite fierce Indian opposition. As I reported in October 2015, in an attempt to outdo Islamabad, New Delhi has been trying to sell its Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to Sri Lanka (See: “Outwitting Pakistan: India Offers Sri Lanka Its Newest Fighter Jet”).
However, Sri Lankan defense officials were hesitant and, among other things, allegedly pointed out that the Tejas LCA is not even in service yet with the Indian Air Force (IAF). Indeed, only one fighter aircraft has been delivered to the Indian Air Force so far and the aircraft, developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency in cooperation with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), only achieved initial operational clearance in December 2013.
Read the full story at The Diplomat