Pakistan air force inducts new batch of Chinese fighter jets

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s air force officially inducted its first batch of Chinese-built J-10C fighter jets on Friday, holding a ceremony with officials from both sides in Islamabad.

Several of the jets flew overhead as Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the purchase, made for an undisclosed amount. Pakistan hasn’t said how many aircraft were bought in the deal, though authorities had earlier spoken of up to 25 jets. China is a longtime ally of Pakistan and has sold it military aircraft before.

The ceremony comes a day after Pakistan said an unarmed surface-to-surface missile launched from India landed inside the country, damaging a wall in a residential area but causing no casualties.

There was no comment from India but Pakistan on Friday summoned an Indian diplomat and lodged a protest over the incident, according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.

Without naming neighboring India, Khan said in his Friday speech that the Chinese-built planes would play an important role in rectifying a “security imbalance” in the region.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations. They have fought three wars — two of them over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which both claim in its entirety.