Responsible Nations Must Reflect: India Reacts To China’s Role In Operation Sindoor

India delivered a pointed and carefully worded diplomatic response to China on Tuesday after Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV confirmed for the first time that Chinese technical personnel were physically present in Pakistan and providing direct operational assistance during Operation Sindoor.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the reports of China supporting Pakistan during Operation Sindoor corroborate what was already known , and added that it is for nations that consider themselves responsible to reflect on whether supporting attempts to protect terrorist infrastructure affects their standing in the global community. The statement, measured yet unmistakably sharp, was widely read as a direct rebuke of Beijing without naming it explicitly.

The trigger for India's response was a significant admission from China itself . Through interviews aired on CCTV, engineers from the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute , a division of the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) , confirmed that Chinese technical personnel were physically deployed to a Pakistani operational support base during the four-day conflict in May 2025, providing direct maintenance and combat support for Pakistan's J-10CE fighter aircraft fleet. Engineer Zhang Heng described working under extreme conditions, temperatures approaching 50 degrees Celsius , constant air-raid sirens, and the continuous roar of fighter jets. Another engineer, Xu Da , compared the J-10CE to a "child" nurtured by Chinese developers and finally tested in real combat conditions.

This, however, was not the first time India raised the alarm over China's role. India's Army Deputy Chief Lt. Gen. Rahul Singh had earlier stated that China gave Pakistan "live inputs" on key Indian positions during the conflict, describing Pakistan as the "front face" while China provided "all possible support" from behind. He made these remarks at a defence industry event in New Delhi, also flagging that Türkiye supplied Bayraktar drones and trained Pakistani personnel.

India had also previously noted that nearly 81 per cent of Pakistan's military hardware was of Chinese origin, with Indian military officials describing Pakistan as a "live lab" for China to test and evaluate its weapons under real combat conditions , a characterisation that Beijing's own CCTV broadcast now effectively validated.

Reports also emerged suggesting a Pakistani J-10CE may have shot down at least one Indian Rafale jet during aerial engagements, which, if confirmed, would mark the first combat loss of the French-made Rafale and the first recorded combat kill by the J-10CE. India has not officially confirmed any such loss.