By General (Retd.) Ehsan ul Haq, NI(M), HI(M)
General (Retd.) Ehsan ul Haq, NI(M), HI(M), is former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Pakistan.
Security is becoming a broader test of the Pakistan-China partnership. The threats facing both countries no longer fall neatly within the boundaries of conventional defence. Terrorism and cross-border militancy, attacks on personnel and strategic infrastructure, cyber threats and rapidly advancing military technologies are reshaping the security environment in which both countries operate.
Pakistan and China already possess a deeply institutionalised defence relationship, built through military exchanges, joint exercises, training, defence production and technology cooperation. That foundation has given the partnership considerable strategic depth. But the nature of the challenges now facing both countries requires this cooperation to evolve further—from defence cooperation towards shared security resilience.
For Pakistan, this means strengthening the national capabilities, institutions and technologies needed to anticipate and respond to emerging threats. For China, the security and stability of Pakistan are directly connected to the safety of its citizens and interests in the country and to the stability of China's wider western neighbourhood. Both therefore have a strategic interest in building a security partnership that is more preventive, technologically capable and institutionally coordinated.
The next phase should not be measured simply by the number of exercises conducted or systems acquired. Its real measure will be whether Pakistan and China can build the capabilities and coordination necessary to prevent threats, protect shared interests and sustain strategic stability in an increasingly complex security environment.
The Security Environment Has Outgrown the Traditional Defence Model
Pakistan-China security cooperation was built around a conventional understanding of national security, shaped by the strategic environment of the second half of the twentieth century. That foundation remains important, but the risks facing both countries have become more interconnected. Terrorism, instability along borders, attacks on strategic infrastructure, cyber threats and vulnerabilities in critical systems can now affect national security without taking the form of conventional military conflict.
For Pakistan, this has particular significance. Its security environment extends from the western frontier to major economic and infrastructure corridors, while the protection of Chinese personnel and projects has become an important dimension of bilateral security. For China, instability in Pakistan can affect the safety of its citizens, strategic interests and wider regional connectivity.
The implication is that defence cooperation can no longer operate as a separate military track. Security increasingly depends on how effectively defence institutions, counterterrorism capabilities, technology and protection arrangements reinforce one another.
The strategic task for Pakistan and China is therefore not simply to expand existing cooperation, but to adapt it to a security environment in which threats are increasingly interconnected, faster-moving and less predictable.
Defence Cooperation Has Created a Foundation for National Capability
The depth of Pakistan-China defence cooperation lies not simply in the systems the two countries have acquired or developed, but in the capabilities and institutions created around them. Military exchanges, joint exercises, training and defence production have progressively moved the relationship beyond conventional defence procurement towards a model of cooperation in which Pakistan participates in developing, producing and sustaining critical capabilities.
The JF-17 Thunder is the clearest example. Its joint development and production created expertise in assembly, maintenance, technical support and sustainment within Pakistan. Its strategic value therefore extends beyond the platform itself. It demonstrates what becomes possible when defence cooperation is structured around the transfer of knowledge and the development of domestic capability rather than the delivery of finished equipment alone.
That distinction will matter increasingly as modern security becomes more technologically demanding. Military effectiveness depends not only on platforms, but on the ability to maintain systems, integrate new technologies, develop specialised expertise and adapt capabilities as threats evolve. Defence cooperation is therefore most valuable when it leaves behind skills, institutions and industrial capacity that strengthen a country's ability to respond independently to future challenges.
Pakistan and China should build on this experience. The next stage of cooperation should place greater emphasis, where appropriate, on joint research, technical training, maintenance, innovation and defence-industrial development. The objective should not simply be to expand Pakistan's defence inventory, but to deepen the national capabilities that enable it to sustain and continuously strengthen its security posture.
From Incident Response to Preventive Security
The most immediate test of Pakistan-China security cooperation is whether both countries can move from responding to individual attacks towards preventing threats before they materialise. Repeated attacks against Chinese nationals and projects in Pakistan demonstrate that terrorism is not simply a domestic security challenge; it has become a vulnerability within the strategic relationship itself.
Pakistan's response to these threats has already involved established security arrangements and sustained efforts by its security institutions to protect Chinese personnel and CPEC projects. Pakistani security personnel have also lost their lives in carrying out this responsibility, underscoring the seriousness of the commitment and the human cost involved. These efforts provide an important operational foundation for the next stage of Pakistan-China security cooperation.
Pakistan and China already have established mechanisms for counterterrorism and security cooperation. In May 2026, the two sides agreed to establish a China-Pakistan Security Partnership and to strengthen bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism cooperation. They also reaffirmed the need to prevent terrorist groups, including the TTP and ETIM, from using territory to threaten regional security.
The challenge, therefore, is not the absence of cooperation but how effectively existing mechanisms convert information into prevention. A stronger security architecture would connect intelligence collection, threat assessment, early warning and operational response more systematically. The objective should be to identify patterns and indicators of an emerging threat early enough for preventive measures to be taken, rather than relying primarily on heightened security after an incident has occurred.
This requires closer coordination in assessing threats to Chinese personnel and strategic interests, developing common risk assessments and strengthening mechanisms through which relevant intelligence can inform protective decisions. Security incidents should also generate structured assessments of what failed, what warning indicators were missed and how protective measures should subsequently change. Such an approach would turn individual incidents into institutional learning rather than treating each attack as a separate security episode.
The regional dimension cannot be ignored. Instability in Afghanistan and along Pakistan's western frontier can provide militant networks with space to organise, move and operate. Pakistan and China therefore have a shared interest in improving their understanding of cross-border threats and using appropriate regional channels to address them.
The objective should be a shift from reaction to prevention. A resilient security partnership is one in which intelligence leads to assessment, assessment leads to timely action, and each security incident strengthens the system's ability to prevent the next one.
Security Technology Must Become a Capability, Not a Commodity
The next stage of Pakistan-China defence cooperation should focus not only on acquiring advanced technology, but on building the capacity to adapt and sustain it. As security becomes increasingly technology-driven, strategic advantage depends on the ability to integrate new systems, develop specialised expertise and adapt capabilities as threats evolve.
Pakistan-China cooperation already provides a foundation for this approach through joint defence production and technical cooperation. The JF-17 experience demonstrates the value of moving beyond finished equipment towards shared expertise and industrial capability.
The same principle can guide cooperation in emerging areas such as cybersecurity, unmanned systems, secure communications and electronic warfare. Rather than pursuing technology for its own sake, both countries should identify specific security requirements where joint research, technical training and system integration can produce lasting capability.
For Pakistan, this means using cooperation to strengthen domestic expertise and institutional capacity. For China, it means developing a more capable and resilient security partner. The strategic objective is technological capability: ensuring that both countries can absorb new technologies, adapt them to changing security requirements and sustain critical capabilities over time.
Protecting Strategic Interests Requires Stronger Institutional Resilience
The security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan has become a measure of confidence in the wider partnership. Pakistan has taken significant steps to strengthen protection arrangements, with Pakistani security personnel carrying out this responsibility at considerable risk and, in some cases, making the ultimate sacrifice while protecting Chinese citizens and CPEC projects. But repeated attacks demonstrate that physical security alone cannot address the full nature of the threat. The challenge is increasingly one of institutional resilience: the ability of security institutions to anticipate risks, coordinate across jurisdictions and sustain protection as threats evolve.
This requires security planning to move beyond project-by-project arrangements towards a more integrated assessment of the environments in which Chinese personnel and strategic interests operate. Threat patterns, local conditions and emerging risks should inform security planning before vulnerabilities become incidents.
For Pakistan, this is fundamentally a national security responsibility. For China, the security of its citizens and investments is directly connected to confidence in the country's ability to sustain long-term cooperation. Both interests therefore point towards the same objective: security arrangements that become more predictive, coordinated and adaptable over time.
Building on the security arrangements and operational experience already developed, the next stage can place greater emphasis on preventive, intelligence-led and technology-enabled mechanisms. The measure of progress should be whether Pakistan's security system becomes increasingly capable of preventing threats rather than simply responding to them. That would strengthen not only the protection of Chinese interests, but the institutional foundations of the Pakistan-China partnership itself.
The Next Step Is a More Integrated Security Partnership
Pakistan and China do not need to build their security relationship from the ground up. They already have established channels for defence cooperation, counterterrorism, technology and the protection of Chinese personnel and strategic projects. The priority now should be to connect these areas more effectively.
A practical step would be to establish a regular process for reviewing emerging security requirements across these fields and identifying where existing cooperation can be better aligned. Defence institutions, security agencies and technical experts could use such assessments to identify shared priorities, whether in counterterrorism, technological capability, professional training or protection arrangements.
This would also create a clearer link between operational experience and future cooperation. Threats identified through security assessments could inform training and technology priorities, while lessons from operations could be incorporated into subsequent planning.
The purpose is not another institution or another layer of agreements. It is better strategic alignment among the cooperation mechanisms already in place, allowing each to reinforce the others and ensuring that bilateral security cooperation evolves in response to actual requirements.
Building Security That Can Sustain the Partnership
Pakistan-China security cooperation has already developed substantial depth. The next challenge is to ensure that this cooperation produces capabilities that can withstand changing threats, technologies and geopolitical conditions.
For Pakistan, this means strengthening the institutions and expertise that underpin national security. For China, it means a more capable partner able to protect shared interests and contribute to regional stability.
The future strength of the partnership will not be measured simply by the systems acquired or agreements signed, but by the capabilities built through them. The next phase should therefore be defined by greater prevention, stronger capacity and the ability of both countries to adapt together.
Editor: Yuan Ruichen
