India’s decision to put the agreement “in abeyance” — and the vague conditions it has imposed on Pakistan to reverse that — has injected a note of uncertainty into the future of a treaty that has survived multiple wars and conflicts.

Nearly two weeks after India and Pakistan reached an uneasy cease-fire, neither New Delhi nor Islamabad agree on what happened preceding it. India blames Pakistan for the April 22 terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that left 26 people dead;

Until now, China had no opportunity to test its platforms in a combat situation," Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, told the BBC. The Beijing-based analyst said the outcome of the air duel showed "China has some systems that are next to none".