Thats the same as arguing wht the americans sent Armstrong to the moon at billions of dollars of expense...
Advertisment of a country's capabilities in technology brings business and good impression..
I would disagree for two reasons. Sending a manned mission on the moon and participatin in a n exhibition to display / offer your product for sale are tow totally different things and can't be compared.
Purpose of participation in millitary exhibitions is to showcase the capabilities of your equipment that you are offering for sale, which we have already done on three ocassions. Any one who is interested in JF-17 probably has the relevant details with them, its not that their decission will be influenced by a fly show in an exhibition , although it will draw attention.
Once the attention is drawn, the prospective customer would want a mature product with all the necessary weapon/equipment integration which can be delivered in a reasonable time frame, which for a fact we all know is not the case as I write these lines. Wepaon integration is still in process which may take another 2/3 years tocomplete for the advertised weapons. Secondly Pakistan still has to complete its own requiremnets before it can be sold to any third party. Third, to export this platform with Russian engine will require NOC from Russia.
I would find it logical to participate again when the weapon/equipment integration and testing is complete at least on block I, Let the productspeak for itself.
When the platform is inducted in PAF in good numbers and preferably also in PLAF. PAF takes Thunders to participate international air exercises and shows good performance, then the customers will automatically be attracted with the need for any advertising / exhibitions.
French took their Rafel to implement no fly zone over Lybia only as a publicity stunt for their product not for any humanitarian reasons and showed the world its performance in real use.