New Delhi: A year after Operation Sindoor and India’s assertion that China provided ground support to Pakistan during the May conflict, China acknowledged for the first time Thursday that it had provided on-the-ground technical support to Pakistan.
In an interview broadcast Thursday by China’s state television network CCTV, Zhang Heng, an engineer at the Aviation Industry Corporation of China’s Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute, described working alongside Pakistani forces during the four-day conflict.
“At the support base, we frequently heard the roar of fighter jets taking off and the constant wail of air-raid sirens,” Zhang said. “By late morning, the temperature was already approaching 50 degrees Celsius. It was a real ordeal for us, both mentally and physically.”
His remarks are the first official confirmation that Chinese personnel were directly involved in supporting Pakistani military operations during the confrontation.
Zhang said his team’s motivation was to make sure that the aircraft and associated systems could “perform at their full combat potential”. Pakistan’s air force operates the Chinese-made J-10CE fighter jet, an export version of China’s J-10C multirole aircraft.
“That wasn’t just recognition of the J-10CE,” he said. “It was also a testament to the deep bond we formed through working side by side.”
Another engineer from the institute, Xu Da, compared the aircraft to “a child” raised by its designers before being handed over to the military.
“We nurtured it, cared for it, and finally delivered it 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. When the moment came, it performed exactly as we expected.”
The comments appeared aimed at highlighting not only the effectiveness of Chinese military technology, but also China’s increasingly strategic role in Pakistan’s defence infrastructure.
Pakistan remains the only international operator of the J-10C series.
In 2020, Islamabad ordered 36 of the aircraft, along with hundreds of PL-15 long-range air-to-air missiles.
Pentagon’s 2025 China Military Power Report later confirmed Beijing’s delivery of 36 J-10C fighters to Pakistan.
China has become Pakistan’s dominant arms supplier in recent years. Roughly 80 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports between 2021 and 2025 originated from China, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s data.
Pakistan’s air force relies heavily on the JF-17 fighter, jointly developed by Chinese and Pakistani engineers.
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development & Sustenance) Lt. Gen. Rahul Singh, in July 2025, asserted that the biggest lesson for India to learn from the May operation was that, despite having only one border, India had a minimum of three adversaries.
“Pakistan was the front face. We had China providing all possible support. China, of course—the good old dictum—killed by a borrowed knife…So, he would rather use the neighbour to cause pain than get involved in the mud-slinging match on the northern borders,” he added.
At the time, he confirmed that China could test its weapons against others, besides speaking about one of the primary concerns within the defence and security establishment—China using its satellites to monitor Indian military deployment.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: How basic Bengali food became a premium experience at Sienna