Top Army general Rahul R Singh said that Pakistan received real-time inputs about India’s important vectors from China during Operation Sindoor, as he explained how New Delhi tackled a double whammy at the border during the four-day conflict. Lieutenant General Singh, Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development & Sustenance), said that India dealt with three adversaries at the border, as he included Turkey in the category as well.
“Pakistan was at the front. China was providing all possible support…Turkey also played an important role in providing the type of support it did,” he said during his address at an event organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in Delhi.
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“When DGMO-level talks were going on, Pakistan actually was mentioning that we know your…important vector is primed and it is ready for action. I would request you to pull it back. So, they were getting live inputs…from China,” Singh said.
The general highlighted that statistics from the last five years show that it was no surprise that China assisted Pakistan. Singh said that by supplying equipment to Pakistan, China is able to test its weapons against others.
“If you are to look at statistics, in the last five years, 81% of the military hardware that Pakistan is getting is all Chinese…China is able to test its weapons against other weapons, so it’s like a live lab available to them,” the top Army general told the event.
Unleashing a fierce attack on China, the general cited the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a Chinese essay to illustrate schemes used in war, politics, and others. Calling Beijing the “good old victim” and citing one of the strategems – kill with a borrowed knife – Singh said instead of stepping on the actual field, it used Pakistan against India.
“China, of course, the good old victim, kill by a borrowed knife…He would rather use the neighbour to cause pain than get involved in the mud-slinging match on the Northern Border,” the Army general said.
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He also mentioned Turkey, which has repeatedly vowed its support for “brother” Pakistan since the Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weeks after the conflict, in a show of Ankara’s resolute support for Islamabad. Shehbaz thanked Erdogan for his ‘resolute support’ against India, and the Turkish President stressed the importance of deeper cooperation in areas like intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, in retaliation for the April 22 carnage in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam wherein Pakistan-backed terrorists shot 26 people dead. Most of the victims were tourists and a local, who stood up for the tourists, was also gunned down.
For four days after the operation, the nuclear countries engaged in fierce conflict, with Pakistan launching a barrage of drones in various border states in India. Jammu and Kashmir bore most of the brunt, especially Poonch and Rajouri. More than 10 civilians lost their lives in J&K and Punjab, while India said over 100 terrorists were neutralised during Operation Sindoor, in which precision strikes hit nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-operated Kashmir.
A ceasefire was announced on May 10, and it was revealed at the time that Pakistan had reached out 48 hours from May 7 to seek deescalation.
Source – Indiatoday
Agencies
