Pakistan was fighting with India during Operation Sindoor, but China was providing “all possible support", a top Indian Army official said on Friday, as he exposed the Beijing-Islamabad nexus.
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development & Sustenance), Lt Gen Rahul R Singh, said that when the DGMO-level talks between India and Pakistan were underway during the four-day (May 7 to 10) conflict, China shared “live updates" of India’s important vectors to Pakistan.
Exposing China, he said that the country “tests its weapons against other weapons", and therefore, Pakistan played the role of a “live lab" for the Chinese military.
The top official pointed to the adversaries India is up against and said while conflict was taking place on one border (western), there were three adversaries — Pakistan, China and Turkey, as the latter two provided military hardware and drones to the Pakistani army.
His remarks came while addressing the event ‘New Age Military Technologies’ organised by FICCI in the national capital.
“Air defence and how it panned out during the entire operation was important… This time, our population centres were not quite addressed, but next time, we need to be prepared for that… We had one border and two adversaries, actually three. Pakistan was in the front. China was providing all possible support. 81% of the military hardware with Pakistan is Chinese… China is able to test its weapons against other weapons, so it’s like a live lab available to them," news agency ANI quoted the official as saying.
He also mentioned Turkey for the role it played in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
“Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did… When DGMO-level talks were on, Pakistan had the live updates of our important vectors, from China… We need a robust air defence system," Lt Gen Singh added.
Notably, Turkey provided drones to Pakistan, which were used to target Indian cities and military installations during Operation Sindoor. Indian air defence systems had shot down most of the incoming projectiles, including missiles, thus preventing any damage.
Lt Gen Singh also drew a few lessons from Operation Sindoor. He said that India should always be at the top of the escalation ladder, but when the military objective is reached, it should be put to a stop.
“There are a few lessons from Operation Sindoor. The strategic messaging by leadership was unambiguous… There is no scope of absorbing the pain the way we did a few years ago… The planning and selection of targets was based on a lot of data that was collected using technology and human intelligence. So a total of 21 targets were actually identified, out of which nine targets we thought would be prudent to engage… It was only the final day or the final hour that the decision was taken that these nine targets would be engaged. A considered decision was taken that it will be a tri-services approach to send the right message that we indeed are an integrated force," he said.
“An important consideration was that we should always be at the top of the escalation ladder. When we reach a military objective, we should try and put a stop to it… War is easy to initiate, but it’s very difficult to control. So I would say that was a very masterly stroke that was played to stop the war at an appropriate time," the official added.
As India struck 11 of Pakistan’s airbases on May 10, Pakistan’s DGMO reached out to his Indian counterpart, urging a ceasefire.
India and Pakistan reached an “understanding" to halt the military operations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the operation was only on a pause, and Operation Sindoor was not over yet.
Source: India Today