The Center for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) in New Delhi on Sunday accused China of giving air defense and satellite intelligence support to Pakistan during its clash with India in early May.
CENJOWS Director General Ashok Kumar said China began helping India with satellite coverage of the region immediately after the April 22 terrorist massacre in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
India bombed terrorist camps in Pakistan on May 6, beginning an exchange of airstrikes and artillery fire that appeared to be escalating toward a much larger conflict before President Donald Trump announced a “full and immediate ceasefire” between the feuding nations on May 10.
According to Kumar, China assisted the Pakistanis with adjusting their satellite coverage throughout the crisis, which “helped them to redeploy their air defense radar so that any actions which we do from the aerial route is known to them.”
Pakistan claims it shot down six Indian warplanes on May 6, including three of India’s top-shelf French-made Rafale multirole fighters. The Indian government has not confirmed the loss of any planes, but if Pakistan did shoot some of them down, it evidently did so with Chinese assistance.
The Pakistani government has said it used aircraft and missiles purchased from China during the conflict but has not admitted to any direct logistical or operational assistance from the Chinese during the May 6-10 clash.
Kumar said the Chinese also helped Pakistan by aiding them with testing and deployment of weapons in the Himalayas, beginning long before the April 22 terrorist attack. He said China took the opportunity of the India-Pakistan clash to study how its weapons performed in Pakistani hands. At least two Chinese products, the J-10C fighter and PL-15 air-to-air missile, had never been used in combat before.
The results were not good, as Kumar claimed some of China’s equipment “failed miserably,” while India’s anti-drone defense network appeared to perform well against Pakistani drone swarms.
“India now factors in a two-front situation in almost all its calculations. Anything which is with China today can be deemed to be with Pakistan tomorrow,” he said.
CENJOWS concluded China could intervene on Pakistan’s behalf in a future conflict with India, but only if the situation was “critical,” while Pakistan would be highly likely to enter any future conflict between India and China.
The Center for Joint Warfare Studies is nominally an independent think tank, but it has ties to the Indian military, as Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and several top military commanders sit on its advisory board.
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