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India has formally claimed military and technological superiority over Pakistan despite Islamabad’s extensive use of Chinese weapon systems, highlighting a critical moment in the region’s volatile security landscape. In a statement released on Wednesday, New Delhi emphasized that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had successfully neutralized Chinese-supplied air defence systems during a recent escalation of hostilities, marking the first official acknowledgment of Beijing’s indirect involvement in the conflict.
The military action, termed Operation Sindoor, was launched on May 7 in response to the killing of 26 Indian tourists in Kashmir on April 22 — an incident India has attributed to Pakistan-based terror groups. Over the course of several days, India struck nine alleged terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan, prompting retaliatory drone swarms, aerial engagements, and cross-border skirmishes.
In its statement, the Indian government claimed that IAF aircraft “bypassed and jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems,” including those deployed near key military and nuclear command hubs in Lahore and Rawalpindi. The strikes, India said, were executed with “precision and speed,” neutralizing multiple Pakistani air defence radars in just 23 minutes.
The significance of India’s claim lies in the nature of the systems it reportedly defeated. For years, Pakistan has relied heavily on Chinese military technology, including advanced platforms such as the J-10 fighter jets and PL-15E long-range air-to-air missiles. These systems are considered among China’s most advanced export offerings, boasting beyond-visual-range engagement capabilities and modern sensor integration. Despite this, India asserts that its indigenous electronic warfare systems and air defence networks outmatched them.
As further evidence, India reported the recovery of fragments of PL-15 missiles, describing them as “hostile technologies neutralized by Indian systems.” The statement characterized Pakistan’s failure to effectively leverage these weapons as a validation of India’s technological and operational edge, particularly in electronic warfare and integrated air operations.
The Limitations of Chinese Arms in Pakistani Hands
The conflict has cast a spotlight on the limitations of Chinese military support to Pakistan. While Pakistan is China’s largest defence customer — accounting for 63% of China’s total arms exports and receiving 81% of its own weapons imports from China over the last five years — battlefield performance is increasingly emerging as a more decisive metric than procurement volumes.
Despite deploying Chinese J-10 aircraft and the much-touted PL-15E missiles, Pakistan was unable to deter or significantly impede India’s airstrikes. It raises questions about the efficacy of these systems in high-intensity combat, mainly when operated by a third party. The Indian claim that it bypassed Chinese-made HQ-9/P or LY-80 air defence systems suggests potential vulnerabilities in either the hardware, its integration into Pakistan’s air defence architecture, or the doctrine guiding its employment.
Moreover, the effectiveness of Chinese arms may be constrained by factors such as:
- Operator training and jointness: Pakistan’s air defence may not be as seamlessly integrated as required for complex scenarios involving simultaneous aerial, drone, and EW threats.
- Export downgrade: Export versions of Chinese weapon systems — like the PL-15E — often feature downgraded capabilities compared to domestic variants.
- Electronic warfare resilience: India’s advances in indigenous EW systems and satellite-based ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) could have neutralized the tactical advantages Chinese systems sought to provide.
In contrast, India has emphasized the performance of its own indigenous systems. Over the past decade, India has invested heavily in developing radar-jamming platforms, multi-sensor fusion, and networked warfare capabilities. It has likely contributed to its confidence in overcoming Chinese-supplied technology deployed by Pakistan.
Geopolitical Signals: Beijing’s Stake, New Delhi’s Message
The indirect involvement of China through its defence exports also underscores the broader strategic rivalry in the Indo-Pacific. By publicly naming Chinese systems and highlighting their defeat, India is sending a twofold message: one to Islamabad about the limitations of foreign reliance, and another to Beijing about the effectiveness of Chinese arms in real combat situations — especially when pitted against a technologically competent adversary.
This narrative is likely to resonate beyond South Asia, especially in Southeast Asian and African countries that have increasingly become buyers of Chinese weapons. It may prompt these nations to reassess the reliability and performance of Chinese systems in real-world conditions.
Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions continued to simmer. India blocked access to the social media accounts of Chinese state-run outlets like Global Times and Xinhua after accusing them of spreading misinformation related to the conflict. This followed India’s embassy in Beijing demanding retractions of reports that claimed Pakistani jets had shot down multiple Indian aircraft — a claim India has officially denied.
India’s narrative of technological and operational superiority over Pakistan — despite the latter’s use of Chinese weaponry — marks a significant geopolitical moment. It reflects New Delhi’s confidence in its own military capabilities and challenges the perception of Chinese arms as a force equalizer for countries like Pakistan. The episode also adds a new dimension to the ongoing India-China rivalry, playing out not just on Himalayan frontiers but through proxy vectors in South Asia’s evolving conflict matrix.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
