You guys are not stating the obvious.... how is Pakistan going ro be a reliable partner for BD given the JF17 has been sold to the monkeys.
In any war situation this would be a liability as chinese pressure would ensure that pakistan takes the sides of the monkeys.
Pakistan establishment may want to side with us, its people may want to side with us but real politic will win the day.
BAF is super critical..... we need to spend the money.... there is no other option. I would go with rafale if feasible..... french unlikely to screw us over because that is not their business model.
JF-17 is only a theoretical acquisition anyway as Pakistan has no hope of indigenising it without another 1-2 decades.
I would not be too sure about the Rafale as the French ONLY care about money as they did not sell JF-17 radar/electronics to Pakistan due to India baiting them with the 126 MMRCA contract.
If say BAF had a squadron(16) of Rafales and it came to war with Myanmar, would you trust the greedy French to not supply/assist BD if the savages daddy(China) offered a massive economic inducement of some kind or another?
At least the UK has some historical connection with BD and has always supported us since independence. Typhoon is now the best option as far as a Western fighter is concerned.