NEW DELHI: Indian Air Force chief R.K.S. Bhadauria on Tuesday said that Pakistan is becoming a pawn in Chinese policy and Beijing could use it to enter Afghanistan after the exit of US forces.

In his remarks during a webinar explaining the objectives behind China’s aggression in Ladakh, Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria said: “Pakistan is increasingly becoming a pawn in Chinese policy. Under the increased CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) debt trap, we are going to further witness (its) military dependency.”

About China using Pakistan to gain entry into the war-torn Afghanistan after the exit of US forces, he said: “US exit from Afghanistan has opened options for China in the region, both direct and through Pakistan, allowing it entry into Central Asia, a region they have been eyeing for long.”

On the Chinese aggression this year in Ladakh, he said that China is trying to dominate the region.

India and China are engaged in nine month standoff in Ladakh.

“China’s aspirations are on the global front and regional domination is a part of the route. Any serious China-India conflict is not good for China at the global front and does not suit their goal,” he said.

The IAF chief also explained about the possible objectives for China to engage in a military standoff and change the status quo in Ladakh, saying that it could be military signalling or domination efforts with adequate escalation control.

“Was it deployment and training of their western theatre forces in a war like scenario where Galwan was an overreach or was it to fine tune and enhance their military technologies and fill the gaps or it could be planned to start border talks for new positions or was it just a misadventure that got escalated,” he asked.

He also said India need to maintain effective capabilities to counter any misadventure, if a situation so arises.

“Our western border is active since the establishment of Pakistan, now new fronts, areas are also active,” he said.