Beijing, May 8: China, for the first time, has confirmed that it provided on-site technical support to Pakistan during the four-day conflict with India last year, official media reports here said.
China’s state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday aired an interview with Zhang Heng, an engineer from the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s (AVIC) Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, a key developer of China’s advanced fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle design.
Zhang had provided technical support to Pakistan during the four-day war last May, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported, quoting CCTV.
Pakistan’s air force operates a fleet of Chinese-made J-10CE jets, produced by an AVIC subsidiary.
“At the support base, we frequently heard the roar of fighter jets taking off and the constant wail of air-raid sirens. By late morning, in May, the temperature was already approaching 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit). It was a real ordeal for us, both mentally and physically,” Zhang said.
What drove his team was the “desire to do an even better job with on site support” and to ensure their equipment could “truly perform at its full combat potential”, Zhang told CCTV.
“That wasn’t just a recognition of the J10CE; it was also a testament to the deep bond we formed through working side by side, day in and day out,” he said.
Chinese foreign ministry and military officials have either parried or played down allegations of China’s support for Pakistan during the conflict.
There was no official reaction to India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt General Rahul R Singh’s assertion that Beijing provided active military support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, using the conflict as a “live lab”.
In an address at a seminar on “New Age Military Technologies” organised by industry chamber FICCI in July last year, Lt Gen Singh suggested that China used its satellites to monitor Indian military deployment as the Pakistani military was getting live inputs on it during the DGMO (Director General of Military Operations)-level phone talks.
The Deputy Chief of Army Staff likened China’s strategy during Operation Sindoor to its ancient military strategy of “36 stratagems” and killing the adversary with a “borrowed knife” to buttress the point that Beijing extended all possible support to Pakistan to cause pain to India.
Chinese officials and social media played up Pakistan’s claims of shooting down Indian fighter planes to showcase Chinese tech superiority, even though there was no evidence to support Islamabad’s assertion.
But Chinese officials and media remained silent about Pakistan suffering heavy collateral damage, including several terrorist headquarters, key air bases and failure of Chinese radars, which enable India’s air superiority.
Latest media reports here said China plans to sell its stealth bomber J-35 to Pakistan.
The disclosures by the Chinese officials about China’s assistance to Pakistan during the May conflict with India are seen as a new “sales pitch”, observers said.
Xu Da, another employee from the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, who also provided on-site support to Pakistan during the war, compared the J-10CE jet to a “child.”
“We nurtured it, cared for it, and finally handed it over to the user. And now, it was facing a major test,” Xu said.
“As for the outstanding results the J-10CE achieved, we weren’t very surprised, and it didn’t feel sudden at all.
“In fact, it felt inevitable. The aircraft just needed the right opportunity. And when that moment came, it delivered exactly as we knew it would,” he said.
The J-10CE is the export variant of the J-10C 4.5-generation fighter and is considered the most advanced model in the J-10 series.
It includes an active electronically scanned array or AESA radar and is compatible with advanced Chinese weapons, including air-to-air missiles.
Pakistan is the only known operator of J-10Cs outside China. It ordered 36 of the fighters along with 250 PL-15 missiles in 2020.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, up to 80 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports between 2021 and 2025 came from China.
The Pakistan Air Force also uses the JF-17 fighter jet, which was jointly developed with China, as its primary combat aircraft. (PTI)
