China Tested Modern Weapons In Indo-Pak Conflict: US Panel

New Delhi: Beijing opportunistically leveraged the India-Pakistan conflict during Operation Sindoor to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons, according to the 2025 report of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission submitted to the US Congress.

“China opportunistically used Pakistan’s military crisis to test and promote its own defence capabilities,” the report said. Citing French intelligence, the report said China initiated a disinformation campaign to undermine the sale of French Rafale jets in favour of its own J-35s. Fake social media accounts were used to circulate AI-generated and video game–based images of supposed “debris” from aircraft allegedly destroyed by Chinese weaponry.

The report added that Chinese Embassy officials persuaded Indonesia to halt a Rafale purchase already in progress, helping Beijing expand its influence over the defence procurement decisions of regional countries.

As Pakistan’s largest defence supplier, China accounted for approximately 82 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.

“This clash was the first time China’s modern weapons systems, including the HQ-9 air defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and the J-10 fighter aircraft, were used in active combat, serving as a real-world field experiment,” the report noted.

On India-China tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the report said the October 2024 border patrolling agreement brought a short-term easing of tensions, but both sides continued militarising the border in early 2025, building new airbases and strengthening their positions near the LAC and Arunachal Pradesh.

“As of September 2025, the terms of economic cooperation or border resolution agreements remained largely conceptual, with few specifics or follow-ups announced by either side,” the report said.

It emphasised the fundamental asymmetry in how China and India prioritise a long-term solution to the border dispute.

“China leverages high-level, well-publicised dialogues to reach partial resolutions, hoping to open the door for bilateral cooperation on trade and other areas by compartmentalising the border issue without sacrificing its core interests,” it said.

The report added that the Indian government has increasingly recognised the seriousness of the threat posed by China at the border, a threat that is not merely “acne on the face”, especially as China’s military strength has grown.

India seeks a sustainable solution to the border issues that is not perceived as a concession and that addresses domestic political pressure to stand firm against China. Such a resolution, it said, is seen as crucial for progress across several potential areas of cooperation, including trade.

“It remains to be seen whether China’s and India’s 2025 commitments reflect a temporary effort by India to hedge amid turbulence in trade negotiations with the United States or a longer-term shift toward normalisation in bilateral relations,” the report concluded.