China provided Pakistan with air defence radar and satellite intelligence support during its clash with India in May, according to a research group under India’s Ministry of Defence, suggesting that Beijing was more directly involved in the conflict than was previously disclosed.
Dr Ashok Kumar, director-general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, said in an interview that China helped Pakistan reorganise its radar and air defence systems to more effectively detect India’s deployments of troops and weaponry.
This latest conflict, described as the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbors in 50 years, featured exchanges of air strikes, drone and missile attacks, artillery fire, and small arms clashes along their contested border. India blamed the April 22 violence on Pakistan, calling it a terrorist act. Islamabad has denied any involvement.
China helped Pakistan to move satellites and recalibrate its air defence systems before it shot down Indian fighter jets earlier this month, it has been claimed.
According to Ashok Kumar, the director general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, the countries worked together to reorganise Pakistan’s radar and air defence radar systems to track India’s troop deployments and aerial movements.
“It [China] helped them [Pakistan] to redeploy their air defence radar so that any actions which we [India] do from the aerial route is known to them,” he said.
Mr Kumar, whose research group operates under the Indian ministry of defence, said the Chinese military advisers helped Pakistan to realign its satellite coverage over India following the April 22 terror attack in which 26 tourists were killed at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.
India has blamed Pakistan and accused it of backing cross-border terrorism. Pakistan has denied any involvement and sought an international probe into the attack.
On May 7, India’s military struck sites in Pakistan and claimed to have destroyed nine terrorist camps, but Pakistan said 31 civilians were killed and that residential houses, mosques, and a power plant were targeted.
In retaliation, Pakistan said it shot down six Indian warplanes during the bombardment, including three French-made Rafales. India has not commented on the specific losses.
It followed another round of strikes, which rapidly escalated into the most serious clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours in nearly five decades, involving supersonic missiles, drones, and cyber attacks.
But hours after the initial Indian military strikes, Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s foreign minister, told parliament that Islamabad had used Chinese jets, including J-10C, against India, with Beijing’s ambassador called to his office over the deployment.
“At 4am in the morning, the whole Chinese team, led by their ambassador, was present at the foreign office,” he said. “We apprised them about all the developments taken place until that time, and they were very happy,” he said.
Pakistan also used a Chinese-made PL-15 missile, which has never been used in combat before. Its use has raised concerns among Beijing’s rivals, including in Taiwan. China’s government has not commented on the use of its equipment.
Donald Trump, the US president, surprised many by announcing a “full and immediate ceasefire” on May 10, which appears to be holding.
According to Mr Kumar, China’s help to Pakistan extended beyond logistics to strategic testing of its defence technologies in the Himalayan region.
Mr Dar will arrive in Beijing on Monday on a three-day official visit to China, where he will hold “in-depth discussions” with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, “on the evolving regional situation in South Asia and its implications for peace and stability”, his office said in a statement.
“The two sides will also review the entire spectrum of Pakistan-China bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” it added.
Dozens of Indian government websites are yet to be restored as Pakistan launched a cyber attack on nearly 1.5 million Indian websites and power infrastructure.
“India now factors in a two-front situation in almost all its calculations,” he said. “Anything which is with China today can be deemed to be with Pakistan tomorrow.”
China has been a longstanding ally of Pakistan since the Cold War and has invested heavily in the country through its Belt and Road Initiative. In recent years, India has reallocated more military resources to its border with China, especially after a 2020 clash in which 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops were killed.
© 2025, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
