China Admits Technical Assistance To Pakistan Air Force During Operation Sindoor

China’s first official admission about giving aerial support to Pakistan during the four-day war with India last year centers on “technical assistance” to Islamabad’s Air Force as a Chinese-made J-10CE fighter jet shot down the French-made Rafale flown by Indian Air Force pilots during Operation Sindoor.

“Islamabad, Pakistan – In Pakistan, May began with streets in major cities dotted with banners and posters honouring the military leadership that, in the official telling, guided the country’s defences and led the nation to victory in the four-day aerial war with India last year”

Al Jazeera

In an interview aired by China’s state broadcaster CCTV, Zhang Heng of AVIC’s Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute described hearing “the roar of fighter jets taking off and the constant wail of air-raid sirens” at the support base as temperatures approached 50 degrees Celsius in May.

Al Jazeera

The same reporting says Pakistan Air Force operates Chinese-made J-10CE jets and that Islamabad ordered 36 Dassault Rafale multirole fighter jets in 2016, with India in the process of finalising a major deal to purchase an additional 114 Rafale aircraft.

The Sunday Guardian’s account frames the episode as a “Big Operation Sindoor Revelation,” while NDTV ties the admission to engineers from AVIC providing on-site technical support to Pakistan during the India-Pakistan clash.

The Al Jazeera account adds that Pakistan’s Chinese-built J-10C jets shot down Indian aircraft, including Rafales, during the opening phase of the four-day conflict that followed the May 2025 standoff.

A year after the conflict, Al Jazeera describes Pakistan’s public celebrations in Rawalpindi at the Nur Khan Auditorium and in Lahore at Liberty Chowk, where the Pakistan Air Force marked its “achievements” in downing Indian jets and the conflict is celebrated as the “Day of the Battle of Truth.”

In New Delhi, Al Jazeera reports that Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti said India had “destroyed 13 Pakistani aircraft” and “struck 11 airfields,” while in Rawalpindi Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told reporters Pakistan had defeated an enemy “five times larger than itself.”

Daily Times

Al Jazeera also reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed his profile picture on X to the official logo of Operation Sindoor and wrote, “A year ago, our armed forces displayed unparalleled courage, precision and resolve,” and urged every Indian to do the same.

The same Al Jazeera report says Pakistan retaliated with Operation Bunyan al-Marsoos after India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, and that the four-day conflict did not end in a neat victory for either nation.

It further notes that at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June 2025, India’s second chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan, admitted to jet losses on the first day, while Air Marshal Bharti had framed it as “Losses are a part of combat.”

The stakes described across the reporting extend from battlefield claims to procurement and information warfare, with The Diplomat saying the sudden rise in demands for Chinese fighter jets after the May 2025 air clash shows how modern weapons are sold.

“China has confirmed for the first time that it provided on-site technical support to Pakistan during last year's war with India, known in New Delhi as Operation Sindoor, the South China Morning Postreported”

NDTV

The Diplomat reports that Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC, a subsidiary of AVIC) reported 2025 revenue of about 75.4 billion yuan, roughly $11 billion, up 15.8 percent, and that its first-quarter 2026 sales jumped nearly 80 percent, close to doubling.

It also says Pakistan inducted the J-10C in 2022, and that Reuters reported the Indian Air Force said “losses are part of combat,” while India itself claimed it had shot down Pakistani aircraft.

The Sunday Guardian’s account adds that Beijing’s admission marks a departure from China’s usual stance of “neutrality” and signals a “deeper and more overt” military alliance, while also pointing to planned transfer of China’s J-35 stealth fighters to Pakistan with deliveries potentially starting late 2026 or 2027.

Al Jazeera frames the longer-term consequences as tied to how each side’s narrative is received, noting that Pakistan accepted US President Donald Trump’s assertion that he brought about the ceasefire on May 10 and nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize, while India walked out of the Indus Waters Treaty on April 23, 2025.