Chinese arms performed exceptionally well against India, says DG ISPR

Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has lauded the Chinese weapons’ performance that Pakistan’s armed forces used during its four-day military engagement with India in May this year, saying they did “exceptionally well”, Bloomberg reported.

“We are open to all sorts of technology,” Chaudhry said in an interview from Islamabad. “Of course lately, recent Chinese platforms, they’ve demonstrated exceptionally well.”

Analysts have questioned the veracity of both sides’ claims of military victories in the conflict, and the precise number of downed aircraft is still up for debate.

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Pakistan deployed significant number of Chinese-built arms systems in the conflict, especially J-10C fighters, which downed several Indian fighter jets, including French-made Rafales.

The military spokesman stated that Pakistan has lately increased the number of Indian aircraft shot down to seven. This number matches the number that President Donald Trump announced last week when he told a crowd in Virginia that “they just shot down seven planes,” though he did not say which side did so. Meanwhile, more than three months after the battle, India’s Air Force chief claimed that India destroyed over a dozen Pakistani aircraft without providing any evidence.

India in May admitted that an unspecified number of its aircraft were downed by Pakistan.

Whereas, the DG ISPR said in the interview that Pakistani forces did not suffer any loss of plane.

“Pakistan has never tried to play with figures and facts,” he said.

With both sides exchanging artillery, drone, missile, air, and small-arms fire along their border, the May conflict was the worst between the nuclear-armed enemies in about 50 years. It started after India attacked inside Pakistan days after blaming it of orchestrating the April 22 Pahalgam attack which claimed 26 lives in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad denied New Delhi’s allegations, offering independent and transparent international investigation into it.

With the first-ever live-documented use of the J-10C and the PL-15 air-to-air missile, the conflict was the biggest battlefield deployment of Chinese weapons in fresh history. As Beijing makes significant investments in cutting-edge defence technology and seeks to increase its military presence in Asia, the use of Chinese weapons has been closely observed throughout the region, especially by China’s enemies.

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Pakistan also used Chinese satellite and radar systems in May, an Indian Ministry of Defence group claimed.

In August, the Pakistan Army inducted Z-10ME attack helicopters capable of precision strike operations day and night.

This state-of-the-art, all-weather platform is equipped with advanced radar systems and cutting-edge electronic warfare suites and significantly enhances the army’s capability to engage diverse aerial and ground threats.

The DG ISPR clarified that Pakistan’s aim was not to buy weapons from one country only, but the arms that are most effective whether from western countries or China.

“Our development strategy has always been to induct the most effective, efficient as well as economic platforms and technology,” he said.

Islamabad “is not in a military catch-up or an arms race” with its neighbour, he said, adding that Pakistan has a military budget “a fraction” the size of India. “We don’t have the luxury of unlimited money at our disposal,” he maintained.