Gen. Singh's 'live-lab' jibe: China plays down its backing to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor

Beijing: China on Monday sought to downplay Indian Army's Deputy Chief Lt Gen Rahul R Singh's assertion that Beijing provided active military support to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor using the conflict as a “live lab” to test various weapon systems.

"I am not familiar with the specifics you mentioned. Let me say that China and Pakistan are close neighbours enjoying traditional friendship. Defence and security cooperation is part of the normal cooperation between the two countries and does not target any third party," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a media briefing here while responding to a question on Gen. Singh’s remarks.

At the same time, Mao said the India-China relationship is in a “critical moment of improvement and development” and Beijing would like to promote steady growth of bilateral ties with New Delhi.

Mao declined to answer a question about reports from Paris stating that China has deployed its embassies to spread doubts about the performance of French-made Rafale jets following the India-Pakistan conflict, saying “I am not familiar with what you mentioned”.

Addressing a seminar in Delhi last week, Gen. Singh said while Pakistan was the "front face", with China extending all possible support to its all-weather ally, Turkiye was also playing a major role by supplying military hardware to Islamabad, adding that India was actually dealing with at least three adversaries during the May 7-10 conflict.

He 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.

While highlighting China-Pakistan’s all-weather ties, Mao said India and Pakistan are and will always be each other's neighbours. They are important neighbours of China as well, she said.

"Over the past weeks and months, China has closely followed the developments between India and Pakistan, actively promoted talks for peace, and worked to maintain regional peace and stability. China welcomes and supports India and Pakistan in properly settling differences and seeking fundamental solutions through dialogue and consultation. China stands ready to continue playing a constructive role for this end”, she said.

When pointed out that China’s active support in providing live inputs to Pakistan during the conflict was contrary to her assertion that the close ties do not target any third party, Mao said, "I am not sure how that allegation came about. Different people may have different perspectives”.

“What I can say is, China-Pakistan relations do not target any third party. This is China’s policy. On India-Pakistan relations, we support the two sides in properly addressing differences through dialogue and consultation and jointly keeping the region peaceful and stable”.

When asked about Beijing’s operational backing to Pakistan during the current normalisation process with India, Mao said Beijing wants steady growth of ties with New Delhi.

“Indeed, the China-India relations are at a crucial stage of improvement and development. We stand ready to work with India to move bilateral relations forward on a sound and steady track”, she said.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.

New Delhi has been maintaining that India's fierce counterattack that day forced Pakistan to plead for ending the hostilities.