China offered Pakistan air defense and satellite support during its recent clash with India, according to a research organisation affiliated with India’s Ministry of Defence. This suggests Beijing may have played a more direct role in the conflict than previously acknowledged.
China assisted Pakistan in adjusting its satellite coverage over India in the two weeks between the April 22 massacre — in which 26 tourists were killed — and the beginning of active hostilities, Ashok Kumar, director general at the New Delhi-based Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, said in an interview.
“It helped them to redeploy their air defence radar so that any actions which we do from the aerial route is known to them,” Kumar said at the think tank’s headquarters in New Delhi.
While the Indian government has yet to officially reveal China’s involvement, and Pakistan has acknowledged using Chinese weapons, Kumar’s account — if accurate — indicates that Beijing also extended logistical and intelligence assistance to Islamabad.
The Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, which conducted the assessment, is an independent think tank focused on modernising and integrating India’s armed forces. Its advisory board includes Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, India’s top military commander, and the heads of the army, air force, and navy.
As of the weekend, China’s Foreign and Defense Ministries had not responded to media inquiries. The same was true for India’s Foreign and Defense Ministries, its armed forces, and the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pakistan’s Foreign and Information Ministries also didn’t respond to emailed questions sent on Sunday.
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.
The international community took note, with then-US President Donald Trump claiming he helped broker a ceasefire beginning May 10 — a claim that angered India, which said the truce was arranged bilaterally. On Thursday, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister announced the ceasefire would be extended to Sunday, while India’s army said it was pursuing confidence-building measures with its neighbor.
Kumar also stated that China used the conflict as a trial for its military hardware. He noted that Chinese defense systems underperformed and “failed miserably” in some cases, referencing an Indian military assessment without providing details.
India, he added, effectively countered Pakistan’s deployment of hundreds of drones, crediting its integrated sensor network for giving it a strategic edge. Kumar did not comment on the performance of China’s J-IOC fighter or address Pakistan’s claim that it had downed Indian aircraft.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said six Indian fighter jets were shot down. This claim has not been independently verified, and India has not confirmed any aircraft losses.
Chinese military equipment such as the J-IOC fighter and PL-15 air-to-air missile had not previously been tested in live combat. Their use has raised concerns among China’s regional rivals, particularly in Taiwan. China has not publicly addressed their deployment, and Pakistan has not released evidence supporting its claims.
Kumar concluded by emphasizing that Indian defense planning now includes the assumption that China might aid Pakistan in future conflicts. While China is unlikely to intervene on Pakistan’s behalf unless a situation becomes “critical,” Kumar said Pakistan is expected to support China in any potential confrontation with India.
“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.
Despite some progress in normalising relations in the months before the conflict, the latest developments suggest strategic tensions remain high.