F-35 sale: Asia-Pacific stellar example of peace, not an arena for geopolitical games, says China

BEIJING: With US President Donald Trump stating that his administration is paving the way to provide India with F-35 stealth fighters, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun criticised the move and asserted that the Asia-Pacific region is a “stellar example of peace and development, not an arena for geopolitical games.”

He also said that forming “exclusive groupings” and engaging in geopolitical games will not bring security. While addressing a regular press briefing on Friday, Guo said, “No one should make China an issue in the relations and cooperation between countries, or seek to instigate bloc politics and confrontation”.

He added, “The Asia-Pacific is a stellar example of peace and development, not an arena for geopolitical games. Ganging up to form exclusive groupings and engaging in bloc politics and confrontation will not bring about security, and will by no means keep the Asia-Pacific and the whole world peaceful and stable”.

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When asked about the US and India’s agreement to strengthen their defence ties and launch the US-India COMPACT initiative, aimed at advancing military partnership, Guo said that cooperation between countries should not be aimed at any third party or harm the interests of others.

“Let me reiterate that China believes that relations and cooperation between countries should not target any third party or harm others’ interests, and should be conducive to regional peace, stability and prosperity,” Guo said.

Pakistan on Friday also expressed concerns saying that the move will disrupt the regional military balance, undermine strategic stability, and hinder efforts to achieve lasting peace in South Asia. A miffed Pakistan also urged its international partners not to take a “one-sided view that deviates from ground realities”.

During a weekly press briefing on Friday, a spokesperson for Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said, “Pakistan is deeply concerned over the planned transfer of advanced military technologies to India. Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability”.

He added, “They remain unhelpful in achieving the objective of a durable peace in South Asia. We urge our international partners to take a holistic and objective view of issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from endorsing positions that are one-sided and deviate from ground reality.”

#Breaking: Trump says the U.S. will sell F-35 stealth fighters to India. The move follows jet’s recent appearance at the Aero India 2025 airshow and comes amid high-level talks during PM Modi’s visit to Washington. Here’s a video of an F-35 over Bengaluru during Aero India. pic.twitter.com/7c4lUvSAPy

— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) February 14, 2025

On Thursday, Trump, addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their bilateral talks, said, “Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters”.

On being asked whether India agreed to purchase F-35s from America following Trump’s announcement, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a press briefing, “On military sales to India, there is a process by which platforms are acquired. There is, in most cases, a request for proposals that is floated. There are responses to those. They are evaluated. I don’t think with regard to the acquisition of an advanced aviation platform by India, that process has started yet. So, this is currently something that’s at the stage of a proposal. But I don’t think the formal process in this regard has started yet”.

India and the US have unveiled a new initiative for their defence cooperation, the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA). This alliance aims to scale industry partnerships and enhance the production of autonomous systems, fostering next-generation defence and technological collaboration, specifically in the field of underwater domain awareness.

India and US also discussed the expansion of military cooperation across various domains, including air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace, with an emphasis on enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies.

Both leaders further highlighted the forthcoming “Tiger Triumph” tri-service exercise, which will be held in India and will be larger in scale and complexity than its previous editions. In terms of supporting overseas military deployments, India and the US are committed to improving logistics, intelligence sharing, and force mobility in the Indo-Pacific.

These come under the “US-India COMPACT for the 21st Century” initiative launched by PM Modi and President Trump to drive change in “Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology” between the two countries. (ANI)