China launches BeiDou navigation satellite system to rival America's GPS

Some of the countries like Pakistan, closely aligned with China, are using the BDS. China is also promoting its use in the countries signed-up for its mega Belt and Road Initiative

China on Friday formally launched full global services of its BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to rival the widely-used American GPS and provide independent navigation structure for its increasingly modernising military.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a ceremony to mark the launch of full global services of the BeiDou-3 here, official media reported.

The launch marks the completion of China's domestically developed BeiDou network, one of the four global navigation networks alongside the US' GPS (Global Positioning System), Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

India too is building its navigational system called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS),