China has sold Pakistan a powerful optical tracking and measurement system that could speed up the development of multi-warhead missiles by Islamabad, according to a media report on Thursday. Chinese authorities declassified information about the deal through a statement on the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) website. The statement, evidence that Beijing is supporting Islamabad’s rapidly developing missile programme, said China is the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan. India and the US have long accused China of supporting Islamabad’s missile and nuclear development programme but credible evidence of such cooperation can rarely be found in the public domain, making the CAS statement a rarity. Zheng Mengwei, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Optics and Electronics in Chengdu, Sichuan province confirmed to the South China Morning Post that Pakistan had bought a highly sophisticated, large-scale optical tracking and measurement system from China.