Power, once loud and territorial, now moves silently. It flows through undersea cables, over smart rail, beneath oil pipelines, and into the bloodstream of emerging economies. It wears no uniform, flies no flag. And today, it speaks Mandarin.

The latest flashpoint between India and Pakistan carried the weight of a message far beyond a routine skirmish; it signaled a shift. Because the real confrontation unfolded on a deeper plane, where commerce, infrastructure and digital routes now redraw the map of influence. And at the centre of that new cartography stands China.

When Indian Rafales took to the skies over contested territory, Pakistan answered with something unfamiliar: Chinese-made J-10Cs, armed with PL-15E missiles, long-range, radar-guided, and built for reach. Pakistan returned fire with precision, moving in concert with China, whose exported military ecosystem entered the arena, marking its arrival as a force rewriting the rules of engagement. Precision. Deterrence. Performance under pressure.

Analysts worldwide watched for what worked. The J-10C, long dismissed as a second-tier platform in defence circles, performed with surgical accuracy. Beijing's quiet confidence in its defence hardware was suddenly matched by proof. Pakistan had emerged as China's strategic partner as well as its showroom. Yet this confrontation in the clouds was only the surface of something deeper. The real battleground lies underfoot.

Beneath the dust of Balochistan and the waves off Gwadar, China is etching a new route into global power. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) begins as a network of roads........

© The Express Tribune