China gave live support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor: Deputy Chief, Army
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China provided live support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor , including information on Indian weapon deployments and actions, Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul R Singh has said. These are the first public remarks on Beijing's role in the four-day conflict.The officer said China used Pakistan like a "borrowed knife" to avoid direct confrontation on the northern borders. He also flagged Turkey's role, suggesting trained personnel were on the ground and Ankara provided real-time support to Pakistan.The comments come days after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Qingdao and called for restoring trust and working towards a permanent solution to border tensions. Singh also proposed a structured roadmap for complete de-escalation."So Pakistan was the front face. China provided all possible support. It's no surprise-81% of Pakistan's military hardware in the last five years is from China. And China, as per its own '36 stratagems', prefers to use a neighbour to cause pain than get into a direct mud-slinging match on the northern border," Lt Gen Singh said, adding Beijing used the conflict as a "live lab" to test its equipment.Speaking at a FICCI seminar on 'New Age Military Technologies', the officer also revealed that even as DGMO-level talks were ongoing between India and Pakistan, China was feeding real-time inputs to Islamabad."When the DGMO talks were on, Pakistan was saying things like, 'We know your such-and-such vector is primed and ready for action. Please pull it back.' That meant they were getting live intel from China," he said.He added that Pakistan requested a ceasefire on the fourth day as it realised India had a "hidden punch" ready that could have left it in a "very bad condition".His remarks contradict earlier comments by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, who had said there was no definitive proof of China providing live targeting data during the war. They also come ahead of a possible India-China leaders' meeting at an upcoming BRICS summit.Lt Gen Singh said India faced three adversaries during Op Sindoor-Pakistan as the visible front, China providing live support, and Turkey assisting with weapons and trained personnel."Turkey also played a very important role. We saw numerous drones landing during the war, along with trained individuals," he said.On India's action, he said the message was clear: if red lines are crossed, there will be punitive action. He revealed India had initially identified 21 terror targets in Pakistan but eventually chose to engage nine, based on real-time intel, with the final decision taken at the last hour.
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