.China actively mediated, and the situation in South Asia was quickly brought under control.

On the morning of February 7, India and Pakistan announced temporary ceasefires, and the artillery war that lasted for two days was over.

A few hours later, an exploration team from Longsheng Group's Pakistan Mineral Exploration and Development Company entered Kashmir, and the leader discovered Ding Zhaomin who went to the Battle Lake Gold Mine.

Because several Japanese geological exploration team members died in artillery battles, news of rare minerals in Kashmir has long been spreading.

Kashmir has become the focus of global public attention.

In this disaster-prone area, the rare resources that may exist are likely to be the fuse of the Fourth India-Pakistan War.

However, before the exploration of mineral resources, both sides were very restrained.

In order to ease the situation in India and Pakistan, China unilaterally delayed the delivery time of the first batch of J-11p, namely the FC-25 fighter jets, which was originally scheduled to be delivered on February 10.

These fighter jets are ready to fly to Pakistan at any time.

Because the pilot training was completed in advance, the FC-25 was immediately able to reach combat status after being delivered to the Pakistan Air Force.

On February 18, Ding Zhaomin submitted his first exploration report.

On the Pakistani side of the Siachen Glacier, there are indeed rare earth resources with amazing reserves, mainly fluorocarbon cerium (lanthanum) ore and xenoate, which has extremely high industrial value. However, the area is more than 3,500 meters above sea level, with extremely backward infrastructure, and industrial mining is extremely difficult. Because the veins are under the glacier and are covered by granite, the direction of the veins cannot be determined, and some of the veins may be on the Indian side.

This report plays a crucial role in quelling the conflict.

It is not that rare earth resources are not important, but that mining is too difficult. On the Pakistan side, for industrial mining, one must first build hundreds of kilometers of mountain roads, and also establish ore screening plants and supporting industrial facilities in high-altitude areas. The total investment in infrastructure exceeds 20 billion yuan. Based on the average price of rare earth ores in 2021, reserves exceed 1.5 million tons to have mining value.

What is the concept of one million and a half tons?

In Yunnan and Guizhou provinces in China, the total reserves of phosphate ore are about 1.6 billion tons, and the associated rare earth reserves are only 700,000 tons, with a content of less than 5% of the 1000th.

All over the world, only a few super-large rare earth mines such as Baiyun Obo have reserves of more than 1.5 million tons.

The mining cost is too high, so naturally there is not much attraction.

However, after the market price exceeded 500,000 US dollars per ton, rare earths became the country's strategic resource. Even if they do not have mining value for the time being, they cannot be given up.

After the news was announced, Pakistan immediately announced the dispatch of a mountain infantry battalion near the Siachen Glacier.

Now, the situation became tense again.

Because India and Japan's exploration work has not yet reached a conclusion, India is relatively restrained and does not conduct tit-for-tat military deployment.

On February 27, Indian Mining Corporation announced the exploration results.

Similar to the exploration report submitted by Ding Zhaomin, there are indeed rare earth resources with amazing reserves near the Siaqin Glacier, but the mining is very difficult.

The report also mentioned that the main part of the veins is on the Pakistani side, and only a small part is on the Indian side.

The next day, the Indian Ministry of Defense announced that it would send additional ground troops to the Siachen Glacier.

Now, the problem becomes more complicated.

Although neither India nor Pakistan announced that it would mine the mineral resources of the Siachen Glacier, both sides were worried that the other side would take the lead in encroaching on their own resources.

The minerals are underground, and no one can guarantee that they will not cross the military dividing line when mining the veins.

On March 1, Pakistani President Shamir visited Beijing urgently, and the accompanying Chief of General Karava proposed to deliver the first batch of FC-25 fighter jets as soon as possible.

Because the contract has been signed, it is impossible for China to keep the fighter jet in its hands.

On March 2, the first batch of twelve FC-25s flew to Peshawar Air Base through Yecheng Air Force Base under the pilot of Pakistan Air Force pilots.

The next day, another twenty-four FC-25s were also delivered to the Pakistan Air Force.

Before leaving Beijing, Karava visited Huang Zhibo and proposed to accept the first batch of FC-30 fighters in early 2023.

Although Huang Zhibo agreed, it is still unknown whether it can be delivered in time.

According to the test flight arrangement, the j-22 will not be able to complete all the test work until the end of May 2023 and will be finalized and mass-produced in October 2023.

If delivered ten months in advance, the Pakistan Air Force can only obtain small-scale production models.

If the test flight of j-22 is progressing smoothly, there is no need to make major changes before mass production, and the problem is not big. The system can be upgraded after equipment to meet the standard of formal mass production. If the test flight is troublesome and needs to be made, the goods cannot be delivered in advance.

Pakistan is very active, and India is also very active.

On March 5, the Indian Prime Minister paid an official visit to Washington, with his entourage including the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff and the Commander of the Three Armed Forces.

In Washington, India's first request was to obtain the F-22i and F-35i fighter jets as soon as possible.

However, the relationship between India and the United States is definitely not as good as that between Pakistan and China.

According to the plan, the first batch of twelve f-22i will be delivered by the end of 2022, and the delivery date of the first batch of twelve f-35i will be June 30, 2023. If India wants to obtain these fighters in advance, it will have to pay a high fee as agreed in the contract.

In name, the money is not given to the United States, but to other countries.

Because the f-22 and f-35 are "international fighter jets", the former has eight overseas users and the latter has as many as fourteen countries, so when scheduling production, Lockheed Martin must strictly follow the contract. If delivery to other users is delayed for India, the contract liquidated damages will be paid.

This money must be paid out by India.

Obviously, Pakistan will not be so troubled here in China.

When the Prime Minister visited Washington, the Indian Foreign Minister also flew to Moscow to protest to the Russian authorities that China sold FC-25 to Pakistan, infringing on Russia's patented technology. Russia should come forward to stop it and let China terminate the arms trade.

The reply from the Indian Foreign Minister was clear: Russia is powerless.

Although the basis of fc-25 is j-11c and the basis of j-11c is su-30mk2, China has long bought out the patent and has made comprehensive improvements. In addition to the similarity of pneumatic appearance of j-11c and su-30mk2, the internal structure is completely different from that of electronic devices.

More importantly, the FC-25 uses the WS-15 developed by China, rather than the Russian 117s engine.

China has independent intellectual property rights, and Russia naturally has no right to interfere in arms trade between the two sovereign states.

This result disappointed the Indian Foreign Minister, but he also knew the reason.

Russia is not unable to put pressure on China. After all, there are some Russian-made equipment on the FC-25. If Russia is willing to come forward, it can at least delay the delivery time of the FC-25.

Ultimately, Russia doesn't want to do that.

Or, Russia is very disappointed with India.

The main reason is that India gave up the joint investment and developed T-50 in 2017 and instead went to the United States to purchase f-22i and f-35i, which led to the delay of the T-50 project for several years due to funding reasons. When it lost the -50, Russia encountered a lot of trouble.

India's move has cost Russia at least more than 10 billion US dollars.

If it weren't for the rise of Sino-Russia military cooperation after the Second Korean War and had obtained orders from China, Russia's arms industry would have been done long ago.

After India entered the arms of the United States, China became the largest purchaser of Russian arms.

It is conceivable that Russia will never turn against China for India's request, and there is no reason to give up the FC-25 project that can make tens of millions of dollars.

You should know that the FC-25 uses Russian ejection escape seats and flight control software.

According to the contract, for every FC-25 sold in China, it will pay Russian arms companies a patent fee of US$1.5 million.

Before the Indian Prime Minister returned, he received a generous gift: the first batch of F-22i will be delivered by June 31.

To this end, India must pay a contract penalty of $144 billion.

It is equivalent to paying an additional $12 million for each f-22i.

Even so, the situation in India and Pakistan is still extremely unfavorable to India.

If everything goes well, the Pakistan Air Force will be launched in 2023 by the end of June, so the Pakistan Air Force is likely to order additional FC-25s and obtain an additional forty-eight aircraft.

Two batches of 96 Fc-25s, plus the existing eighty Fc-20s and one hundred and twenty Fc-1s, the Pakistan Air Force has obvious tactical advantages. If China increases its support and gives Pakistan a batch of J-10s, the Pakistan Air Force will have more obvious advantages.

To put it bluntly, if the war breaks out before the end of June, India is likely to lose air supremacy.

On March 11, US President Macmillan publicly stated that he was willing to act as a mediator of the India-Pakistan conflict and personally stepped forward to calm the military confrontation in Kashmir.

The next day, the US Vice President and Secretary of State rushed to New Delhi and Islamabad respectively.

On the same day, Wen Tinggui and Li Pingko also flew to New Delhi and Islamabad as special envoys of the head of state to quell the India-Pakistan conflict.

The focus is not on India, but on Pakistan.

Relying on its military advantages, Pakistan is likely to take risks and occupy the entire mineral area through military operations, and then negotiate with India.

However, the war breaks out at this time, and there is no benefit to China.

Li Pingko visited Islamabad in the hope that Pakistan could understand China's difficulties and at the same time made a clear commitment that when India first launched a war, China would send troops to support Pakistan, or open up a second front and fight side by side with Pakistan.

On March 14, both India and Pakistan expressed their willingness to negotiate.

The next day, after signing the "Secret Treaty of the China-Pakistan Military Alliance" with the President of Pakistan, Li Pingko returned to Beijing overnight by special plane.

On the morning of March 16, after the plenary congress passed a proposal to change the position of senior leadership such as Yi Yuanchao as head of state, Li Pingkoo as prime minister of the State Council, and Huang Hanlin as executive vice premier of the State Council, Fu Xiubo officially announced his resignation as head of state.
Chapter completed!