China dispatched a PLA honor guard to Pakistan’s Republic Day parade.
For the first time ever, Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops joined Pakistan’s Republic Day parade in Islamabad. Troops from Saudi Arabia and Turkey joined the parade as well.
The participation of Chinese troops in the parade this year highlights growing ties between China and Pakistan, two countries with close ties that refer to their bilateral relationship as an “all-weather” partnership.
Pakistan’s president, Mamnoon Hussain, noted that the participation of Chinese troops marked a “historic moment.”
Historically, given its purported principle of non-interference in the affairs of other states, China has been hesitant about sending its armed forces overseas for symbolic shows of solidarity.
Given recent rapprochement between Beijing and Islamabad over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), however, China appears to be leaving its older hesitance about these sorts of optics behind.
