India Defense Ministry Signs Contract for T-90 Missiles

(RIA Novosti) – India’s Defense Ministry has signed a contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited for delivery of T-90 tank missiles manufactured under Russian license to the Indian army, The Hindu daily newspaper reported Tuesday.
Under the contract, estimated at $470 million, the deliveries of the Invar missiles, to be put on T-90 tanks, are to be completed within the next five years.
Invar is a laser-guided antitank missile with a range of five kilometers (three miles) and capability of penetrating explosive reactive armor.
Bharat Dynamics has been manufacturing the missiles in collaboration with Russia’s state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, the newspaper said.
According to media reports, India is planning to procure 25,000 Invar missiles for its T-90 tanks, including 10,000 to be bought directly from Russia and 15,000 to be manufactured domestically under Russian license.

In Pics: IAF lands C 130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft at Daulat Beg Oldie in Ladakh

The Indian Air Force on Tuesday landed a C130J-30 Super Hercules aircraft at the world's highest airstrip - the Daulat Beg Oldie in Ladakh.
IBNLive

Navy has ordered weapon safety checks on submarines: A K Antony

In wake of the blasts on the INS Sindhurakshak, the Navy has ordered extensive checks on weapon-related safety systems on all its submarines, Defence Minister A K Antony told Lok Sabha.

Making a statement in Lok Sabha on the incident in Mumbai on Saturday, he said preliminary investigations have indicated that the blasts on the submarine were caused by "possible ignition" of armament.

Reading out the statement amid din over coal file issue, he said as the "explosion and resultant damage were near instantaneous, the 18 personnel could not evacuate. Although full details are yet to emerge, the rapidity and intensity of explosion and resultant damage sustained by the submarine indicate that the personnel would not have survived."

"After the accident, the Navy has ordered an audit of Standard operating Procedures (SOPs) on all operational submarines and extensive checks on the weapon-related safety systems," Antony said.

He said "preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was due to the possible ignition of armament. The cause of ignition is, however, yet to be established. Forensic examination would throw more light into the possible cause of ignition."

He said this would be possible only after the "partially submerged" submarine is afloat and dewatered. "A Board of Inquiry with all relevant specialists has been constituted to investigate the likely causes of the accident at the earliest."

Antony said globally-renowned salvage agencies have been approached and they are undertaking survey for salvage operations.

"There is also an offer of help from Russia, where the refit and upgrade of the submarine had been undertaken," he said.

The Defence Minister said the submarine is presently resting on its bottom and "partially submerged" next to the jetty where the incident took place.

"Diving operations by the Navy are in progress round the clock to attempt search for the personnel, assess the damage and also attempt to arrest leakages and ensure dewatering," he said.

The divers from Navy have entered the submarine but their access has remained limited to only some parts of the submarine due to heavy damage and flooding of compartments with obstructions from debris and structural distortions, Antony said.

The Minister said breaches have been indicated in the "watertight integrity in the forward portion of the submarine hull" after inserting high pressure air as part of efforts to identify possible areas of water ingress.

"Efforts have been made to dewater the flooded compartments using high capacity pumps. However, there has been no discernible change in the water level inside the submarine, indicating likelihood of ingress of water through openings due to structural damage," Antony said.

On the support for families of the submarine's duty crew inside the submarine at the time of accident, he said, "I would like to assure that all support, assistance and counselling will be provided to families of all personnel. A family cell has been formed at the Western Naval Command."

"We convey our deepest condolences to the families of Navy personnel who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty," the Minister said.

 economictimes

Indian Navy MK54 Lightweight Torpedo acoustic Nose Array order placed

Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced receipt of a US Navy contract for the production of acoustic nose arrays for the MK54 lightweight torpedo in support of Navy and foreign military sales requirements. The initial scope is for 428 nose arrays, which can expand to 3000 units. The Foreign countries mentioned in the contract include the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy.
The American Defence Security Cooperation Agency notification to the U.S Congress indicated sale of 35 Mk-54 torpedoes including spares and logistical support to India at a price of $ 86 million. The submarine hunting torpedoes will be deployed by the Indian Navy on its eight P-8I Neptune long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft being acquired from Boeing.
The MK54 can also be deployed from a surface ship, helicopter or fixed wing aircraft to track, classify and attack underwater targets.
The company has produced 550 MK50 lightweight torpedoes and 491 MK48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) heavyweight torpedoes in past. It is also a lead designer for the current MK48 ADCAP Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System upgrade in the early 2000s.

frontierindia

Navy may lease Kilo-class subs from Russia

India may explore the possibility of leasing a few kilo-class submarines from Russia, government sources said.
With the INS Sindhurakshak likely to be written off, the navy’s submarine arm will be left with just 13 conventional submarines — two of which are under repair.
And most of them have lived 75% of their operational life.
A navy official said scaling up the capabilities of the submarine fleet was a priority and “all available options” would be explored.
Leasing new submarines from Russia would ultimately be a politico-commercial decision, officials said.
“The navy should lease at least two conventional submarines from Russia as building or buying more may take a lot of time,” former navy chief admiral Arun Prakash said.
The navy’s underwater capabilities are currently at a highly precarious state.
It will be left with merely seven to eight submarines, including a nuclear attack submarine leased from Russia, INS Chakra, in the coming years, as it will phase out the older Russian kilo-class and German HDW Type 209 submarines.
Submarine-induction in the navy has been fraught with time and cost overruns.
Had the government adhered to the original capacity building plan cleared in 1999, the navy should have inducted 12 new conventional submarines by now and an equal number by 2030.
“The last of the submarines of the Sindhugosh-class was inducted in 1999-2000. This shows a big lacuna on part of the government in assessing the situation,” said Commodore (retired) C Uday Bhaskar, one of the country’s leading defence and strategic experts.
Strategic experts claimed that the government was obsessed with designing landbased plans to counter India’s neighbours instead of focusing on the navy.
This despite the fact that the Indian Navy is required to undertake the task of not only protecting the 7,500km-long coastline, but also more than 1,200 islands, and 2.2 million square kilometres of exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“The Indian Navy is more like a Cinderella Service. It paid a heavy price, because of the inability of bureaucrats and politicians to arrive at the right strategic assessment,” said Bhaskar.

 hindustantimes

INS Sindhurakshak: Navy sticks to ‘accident’ story behind submarine disaster

                                                                                                   photo: ndtv
Preliminary assessments show "a plain and simple accident" in the "fully-loaded" weapons compartment of INS Sindhurakshak, which caused "sympathetic detonation" of some missile and torpedo warheads, probably led to the sinking of the Kilo-class submarine in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Though holding that the board of inquiry (BoI) headed by senior submariner Commodore Deepak Bhist will pinpoint the reason, top naval sources on Friday virtually ruled out hydrogen gas leakage, "a major material failure", or sabotage being responsible for the disaster.

This then leaves "mishandling of ammunition" as the most plausible reason for the massive explosions that even "ejected" a Klub-S cruise missile out of the vessel. Asked about this, the sources said even if "mishandling" was the case, it was "more of an accident" rather than "lack of training or expertise".

"Something could have slipped from someone's hand ... a device could have malfunctioned. We don't know yet since the mangled submarine is still underwater. But the 18 on board were highly-experienced, including three officers and three `underwater weapons specialist' petty officers (junior commissioned officers)," said a source.

INS Sindhurakshak, with a full complement of 18 missiles and torpedoes, was set to sail on "a long deployment patrol" early on Wednesday morning. The submarine's second-in-command or executive officer Lt-Commander Nikhilesh Pal, a bachelor, was on board for the final "prepare sub for sea" when something went drastically wrong.

"The torpedo air flask, which contains compressed pure oxygen, could have exploded due to something even if the exploder mechanism had not been inserted into it. Sympathetic detonation would have followed since the missiles and torpedoes are stacked together in the six tubes and the 12 racks behind them," said the source.

Rejecting hydrogen gas leakage as a "dim possibility", the sources said the 240 lead acid batteries, each weighing around 800kg, on the submarine were "brand new" after its over two-year $156 million refit in Russia.

" Old batteries emit more hydrogen. The maximum amount of hydrogen is emitted while batteries are being charged ... the process had been finished in INS Sindhurakshak over two days before the mishap. Moreover, Hydrogen levels are continuously monitored by duty-watch sailors," he said.

Similarly, the possibility of "a major material failure" is being discounted since the submarine had undergone extensive sea-trials, checks and certification processes after its refit. "INS Sindhurakshak had already finished 1,000 dived hours after the refit. If there was a defect, it would have been detected and rectified during the operations as well as the regular `turning of arms' drills during everything is powered on," he added.

Sabotage also looks "highly-unlikely" because it would require "a long chain of conspirators and insiders" who could get access to the submarine guarded round-the-clock while it was berthed in harbour. "Nothing, of course, can be completely ruled out till the forensic examination of the submarine and the exact sequence of events established during the BoI," he said.-  Times of india

Explosion, fire on Navy submarine INS Sindhurakshak in Mumbai; 18 personnel missing

An Indian Navy submarine caught fire after an explosion and sank here late last night, with the fate of 18 personnel, including three officers, on board uncertain. The explosion resulting in a major fire took place on board INS Sindhurakshak, a Kilo class submarine of the Indian Navy, shortly after midnight.

"There are some people who are trapped on board, we are in the process of trying to rescue them, we suspect it to be in the range of 18," said navy spokesman PVS Satish.

"We will not give up until we get to them," Satish said.

Among the missing are three officers, according to Navy sources.

According reports, the submarine has been damaged extensively in the fire, which was brought under control with the help of 16 fire tenders at around 3am.

The Navy has ordered a board of inquiry into the dockyard fire.

Many sailors on board the submarine reportedly jumped off to safety. Some injured sailors were taken to naval hospital INHSAshvini in Colaba.

The cause of the explosion and blaze is still not known.

At least 16 fire tenders of Mumbai Fire Brigade and Mumbai Port Trust were rushed to assist the naval fire brigade to douse the conflagration, the smoke emanating from which could be seen in many parts of south Mumbai.

The blast was first heard ashore by deputy chief fire office PS Rahandale who was on leave and attending a private engagement near the Gateway of India promenade. He immediately alerted the fire brigade and other emergency services.

(With inputs from IANS, Reuters)/Times of india

India should contain Pakistan’s adventurism, China’s aggression

At a time when India aspires to become a superpower and a driving economic force of the 21st century, its directionless foreign policy is hurting its own interest. The inability of our politicians to make strong statements on the regular misdemeanours of Pakistan and China has given our hostile neighbours a chance to mock us at will.

The repeated Chinese incursions and ceasefire violations by Pakistan at the Line of Control (LoC) and other parts of the country are fallout of New Delhi’s weak foreign policy and the reluctance of our ruling class to put Beijing and Islamabad to task for their anti-India moves.


Let`s first look at Pakistan, which has been nurturing terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) on its soil to engage India in a proxy war after being repeatedly defeated in full-fledged wars. The ceasefire violations by Pakistan and the infiltration bids along the border have also been on the rise with the Indian Army recently claiming that there has been 80 percent increase in such instances in the recent past. And in spite of taking strong action against Islamabad`s hostile attitude towards India, the Congress-led ruling coalition has been busy placating its allies and trying to save its face in view of its criticism due a number of scams unearthed during its two tenures. At a time when the nation is seething with anger, the ‘chalta hai’ attitude of our politicians is further demoralising our armed forces.

There is an urgent need to review our existing strategy to deal with Pakistan’s adventurism. The situation calls for giving a tactical response to stop the incident like the recent LoC attack and the cowardly design of Pakistan’s notorious spy agency, the ISI, and the beheading of Indian soldier by Pakistani troops earlier this year. The two incidents are of great concern and warrant an immediate change in our foreign policy vis-a-vis Pakistan and China.


The contradictory statements of Defence Minister AK Antony on the killing of five Indian soldiers by the Pakistani Army only reflects the insensitivity of our political leaders who appear to be less concerned about national security and people`s sentiments.

Antony had initially told the Parliament that "20 heavily-armed terrorists along with persons in Pakistan Army uniform" were responsible for the killings near the Line of Control. However, after huge uproar from the Opposition, the Defence Minister made a fresh statement saying that a specialist group of the Pakistan Army was involved in the attack and no attack on the Indian Army is possible without the help of the Pakistani Army, adding that the ties with Islamabad will also be reviewed. What apathy for the 1.2 billion plus people where the country’s Defence Minister is unknown of the facts?

Another ugly episode that transpired due to Antony’s statement was the tug of war between the Congress and BJP. The war of words between the two national parties over Antony’s goof up only showed that the political parties here spare no chance to attack its rivals, even if it concerns the country’s security and its integrity.

The biggest problem is that India`s foreign policy is not aimed at strengthening our strategic and national interests, but it is also influenced by the coalition politics, which many times comes in way of formulation of such policies that are required for safeguarding our long-term strategic goals.

In the wake of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressing sorrow over the Loc incident and urging his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh to meet and discuss steps for strengthening the bilateral ties, New Delhi should welcome the move, but at the same time ensure that history doesn’t repeats itself and Indian diplomacy does not get outsmarted by the Pakistanis as it has always been. The Indian establishment needs to talk tough this time so that something concrete comes out of the Sharif-Singh meet and issues like cross-border terrorism, ceasefire violation are not put on the back burner.

‘Dragon’ – The biggest challenge

Ironically, when the world is seeing India as an emerging world power and a potent force to take on China, the politicians of this largest democracy are doing nothing to replace China’s “big brother” status in Asia. The political class lacks a clear vision and a roadmap to emerge as a great economic and military superpower. The words and deeds of our diplomats and politicians are often aimed at keeping the `Dragon` happy. They seem to be repeating the same mistake, which our late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did by trusting Beijing and what transpired is a known fact.

China is vastly expanding its military and economy with every passing day and this is an alarming situation for our political administrators, who need to carefully design our response to Beijing. New Delhi urgently needs to warm up to countries like Japan, Vietnam, and Philippines, which have long standing land disputes with Beijing. Getting Japan onboard for investment in various sectors in India will be a huge boost for the latter`s economy. Besides, India should expand its influence in Vietnam, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other South East Asian countries, and give these countries a sense of assurance that China is not the only `power centre` in Asia and together they can check the `Dragon` from rising.

India`s silence on China`s plans to create a dam along the Brahmaputra River, long standing border disputes and Beijing`s unfair trade practices have given the Chinese an upper hand, who consider India`s leadership as weak and indecisive. The continuous incursion of the PLA on the Indian side and New Delhi`s timid response to such aggression only exposes our vulnerability and weakness.

Our defence preparedness has recently taken a surge, but is still far behind China – thanks to our policies formulated by the learned politicians who still want to rely on other countries for importing arms and military hardware – for the reasons they best know.

India should engage with the United States more and take the Indo-US ties to a new high. New Delhi also needs to complement its "Look East policy" with America`s "re-balancing towards Asia". At this crucial juncture when `Uncle Sam` wants to maintain its hegemony in Asia, New Delhi should grab this opportunity and engage more with Washington, if it wants to take on China and Pakistan.

Zeenews

There is a lot of corruption in Indian military contracts

Edmonds Allen, a New York-based businessman, is behind a major investigation into corruption in Indian arms purchases. After working with alleged arms dealer Abhishek Verma, he shocked the Indian defence establishment last year when he sent a bundle of top secret documents to the ministry. The documents dealt with India's proposed military purchases and, according to Allen, all the plans were in the hands of arms dealers. So, were people within the ministry selling the country's procurement plans to global companies? Allen's revelations triggered an international investigation with a joint team of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioning him in New York and the FBI now joining the investigation. The money trail has taken the investigators to the US, the UK and Italy, where top executives of Finmeccanica, the parent company of AgustaWestland, were arrested for allegedly paying bribes to swing India's VVIP chopper deal. Allen told THE WEEK that he would like to cooperate with the Indian agencies to expose corruption in defence deals. Excerpts:
What made you become a whistle-blower?
I was introduced to Abhishek Verma [currently in prison in Delhi] by my friends in 2000. He was introduced to me as an influential businessman from a prominent Indian political family. Verma told me he had $200 million stashed away in Europe and wanted someone to handle it. I told him to invest in the US because there you can access the money, unlike in tax havens that were coming under attack from various governments. I got suspicious about his business in 2011, when he directed me to forge documents to defraud an EU businessman, Didier Tytgadt. When I declined, he threatened me. I eventually decided to expose him.
It took you more than 10 years to figu-re out he was doing something illegal?
Yes, it may sound odd. But he is a very smart guy. He has misled so many people, including me.
Has any government agency from India been in touch with you?
I wrote to the office of the Prime Minister, the defence minister and India's investigating agencies. There was a long silence. But then, last year, a team of the CBI and the ED met me in New York. I provided them all the material related to Verma and his illegal dealings. They still approach me whenever they require any further details. The FBI is also investigating the case now.
What is the FBI's role?
The FBI is investigating illegal ties of any American individual or company with Verma and whether they have violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The FBI officer at the US embassy in Delhi has also approached me.
Besides Rheinmetall, did any other company offer money to Indian officials to win defence deals?
Other than the AgustaWestland case [the Italian helicopter maker is accused of bribing Indian officials to win a VVIP chopper deal], there is also one involving Greece's Hellenic Defense Systems. There is a lot of corruption in military contracts in India. Verma would often ask me to wire money from New York for unknown reasons. In the Hawker Beechcraft deal, he brought me to India only after he had finalised the deal. It was June 2010 and I visited India for three days. I stayed at his farmhouse in Delhi. He introduced me to top executives of Hawker and we had a meeting at the Oberoi hotel. He then hosted a big party at his farmhouse in the evening where there were many Russian hookers. A number of Indian military officials were also present.

Who else was there?
I don't remember their names. There was an air vice marshal rank officer and there were others from the air force and the army, too. I don't know whether they were serving or retired but they were very comfortable with the setting. Verma's Romanian girlfriend [now wife] Anca Neacsu was also there. She is a smart woman. She used to visit offices of senior officials in India's defence and home ministries and shot secret videos as "proof" of her husband's high connections.
Was American defence firm SIG Sauer also associated with Verma?
Verma was keen to fix a deal for SIG Sauer. He knew about the company's interest in India. SIG Sauer is a big company that manufactures rifles, carbines and pistols. He created a joint venture with SIG Sauer and the firm paid him $50,000 to bribe some people in India to swing the procurement deal for sniper rifles in its favour. He was also trying to approach General Dynamics. But somehow that did not work. The problem is that India has become an attractive market for military companies. There is big money involved.
Besides you, who else was working for Verma in the US?
I don't think he had any employees here. He used to approach people directly through email and phone calls. He has a close friend in New Jersey called Paul Parmar. All I know is that he [Parmar] is from India and made it quite big here. He started as a property dealer and soon became one of the country's super rich. He is often in the news for purchasing big property. He recently bought a house worth $10 million. He is currently being investigated by the FBI.
How did you get hold of hundreds of secret documents related to India's military procurement?
I got them from Verma. He would often email me details and seek wire transfers for the consultancy services. I have provided the documents to the CBI and I was informed that these were secret and should not have been out in public. The documents dealt with sensitive procurement proposals.
Among the documents, were there references to the anti-tank missile?
Yes, there were documents related to India's military proposal to procure anti-tank gun missiles. Verma shared them with foreign defence firms. The documents had details about the shortage of anti-tank missiles in the Army, the precise nature of requirement and the quantity of missiles and launchers. I have shared the details with the CBI.
Does Congress leader Jagdish Tytler figure in the documents?
I think Tytler got trapped. He was keen to do business for his son. But Verma cheated him somehow.
But Tytler has denied his son's association with Verma.
That is not true. His son Siddartha Tytler was working with Verma. He was keen to establish a  telecom business with American companies and he was seeking Verma's help. They worked together with a Cyprus-based company, Corewip Limited, to establish a joint venture called GT Telecom. Tytler once spoke to me on the phone. I don't remember whether he spoke about this telecom venture.
Are you ready to depose in court?
I'm ready to depose before any court.
Will you come to India to join the investigation?
I cannot come to India because I fear for my safety and life. Verma is a dirty guy. I do not need to go to India as I have made myself available to Indian investigating agencies. That is why CBI was here last year.

The week

Indian Army free to hit back on Kashmir border: Antony

Indian armed forces can respond "appropriately" if and when the Pakistani military violates the ceasefire on the Jammu and Kashmir border, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Monday.
"The armed forces have the freedom to respond to the developing situation appropriately," Antony told reporters here.
Antony was here for the launch of India's first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant.
Five Indian soldiers were killed when Pakistani troops sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir and ambushed an army patrol last week.
Defence officials said Pakistan troops violated the 2003 ceasefire thrice since Sunday, firing at Indian positions from across the border.
Pakistan Rangers fired at a Border Security Force (BSF) post at Kanachak in Jammu district, injuring a BSF trooper.
 business-standard

Pakistan violates ceasefire again; nightlong firing from across LoC in Poonch

 Escalating border tension, Pakistani troops on Monday violated the ceasefire for the fifth time in the last three days by targeting forward Indian posts along the LoC in Poonch district with mortar shells, rockets and small arms firing.

Indian troops, guarding the borderline, took positions and retaliated resulting in heavy exchanges.

"Pakistan troops opened heavy firing with small arms, mortar shells and rockets on Indian forward posts along LoC in Poonch and Durga Battalion areas around 0150 hours", defence spokesman S N Acharya said today.

"It was yet another ceasefire violation by Pakistan", the Spokesman said, adding the firing took place from 0150 hours till 0600 hours.

There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the Pakistani firing, Acharya said.

Pakistani troops fired at 11 posts in Digwar, Mankote and Durga Battalion areas along the LoC in Poonch.

This is fifth ceasefire violation by Pakistan troops in the past three days.

Pakistani troops had fired at Durga Battalion area with small arms firing and mortars along LoC in Poonch around 2150 hours last night. The firing continued for three hours and Army troops from this side retaliated, he said.

Pakistan troops had also opened small arms firing at Indian posts in Balakote-Mendhar forward belt of Poonch district around 1130 hours yesterday, Army officials had said, adding that Indian troops fired back resulting in exchanges for four hours.

There was no loss of life or damage to property in the firing.

A BSF jawan was injured in Pakistani firing at a forward Posts along the Indo-Pakistan border at around 0830 hrs yesterday.

"There was sniper firing from Pakistani side along the international border (IB) on three posts including Alfa Machial Border Out Post (BOP) area in Kanachak belt of Jammu district" a senior BSF officer had said.

In the firing, BSF Jawan Pawan Kumar received bullet injuries in his chest and legs. The jawan has been paralysed as the bullet pierced his spinal cord, doctors at GMC hospital said, adding that he has been referred to the AIIMS in the national capital.

On Saturday last, Pakistani troops had targeted several Indian Posts by firing 7000 rounds of ammunition and mortar shells along LoC in Poonch district.

Earlier, Head Constable BSF Ram Niwas Meena of 200th Battalion was injured in snipper firing on Narainpur BoP area in Samba district along IB on August 5. Meena succumbed to his injuries yesterday

On August six, a group of 20 heavily armed men led by Pakistani troops had entered 450 metres into the Indian territory in the Poonch sector and ambushed a patrol killing five Indian soldiers.

There have been 57 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops this year from January one to August 5, which is 80 per cent more than the corresponding period last year.

Timesofindia

China’s “All-Weather” Threat to India

A recent Toby Dalton op-ed discussed the role that China may have played (and may continue to play) in Pakistan’s nuclear program. Dalton argued that, apart from the specifics of the dispute, relations between Pakistan and China need to be understood in context of growing strategic tension between China and India.
This is nothing new.  China and Pakistan have seen each other as (semi-) reliable allies since the 1950s, when tensions between China and India grew over Tibet and other issues. With the increasing strategic complexity associated with growing Chinese and Indian military power, however, the relationship takes on multiple new dimensions. The Pakistan-China-India triangle (with, as Dalton notes, one antagonistic, one competitive, and one cooperative leg) is embedded within a larger set of triangular relationships, including Japan, Russia, and the United States.
Pakistan is, in an important sense, Beijing’s answer to every step India takes to expand its influence in the South China Sea. To the extent that India evinces a willingness to either support the aspirations of China’s smaller neighbors (such as Vietnam) or ally with China’s more serious antagonists (such as Japan and the United States), China can respond by increasing the size and sophistication of its arms shipments to Pakistan, as well as supporting Pakistan in various international fora.
And in the end, India has no good answer for China’s support of Pakistan; it cannot blockade Pakistan, cannot peel it away from Beijing, cannot plausibly change the regime, and cannot likely find an ally as willing and capable of irritating China as Pakistan is of India. As Anatol Lieven has argued, while the current Pakistani regime has great difficult exerting control over its own territory, it sits upon a network of social relations sufficiently robust as to not seriously fear being overthrown.
Of course, Pakistan could certainly reconsider whether it can do better than act as a Chinese bargaining chip in the Sino-Indian relationship. There are limits on the extent to which China can dial up or dial down Pakistan’s threat profile towards India; as Pakistan found in 1971, friendship with China can’t immunize it from Indian power. And although Pakistani relations with the United States are at a low point, stronger relations with Beijing seem hardly likely to improve the situation.
China may also eventually find itself constrained with respect to policy in Afghanistan.  The nature of the post-withdrawal peace in Afghanistan is of great interest to both India and Pakistan, and both seem willing to devote resources to their preferred players. While China has expressed interest in Afghan resources, what it most wants is stability, which may come into conflict with Pakistani preferences.
But as other strategic triangles have shown, the balance between the cooperative and competitive legs of strategic trianges can change on short notice. Ironically, US rapprochement with China in the early 1970s may have made both less capable of aiding Pakistan, as it embedded the Indo-Pakistan relationship within the larger Cold War struggle between the US and the Soviet Union. And as India continues to build “cooperative” legs with partners such as Russia, the United States, and Japan, the utility of the triangle may become steadily more tenuous for Beijing.

 thediplomat