A report by the US Congressional panel, which had accused China of launching a disinformation campaign in the wake of Indo–Pak clashes in May to hinder sales of French Rafale aircraft in favour of its own J-35s, also made note of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) scrambling its Chinese jets during the conflict. It was the first instance of these Chinese jets being used in a conflict and helped the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) with valuable data, apart from boosting its defence trade.
The US–China Economic and Security Review Commission, in its 2025 Annual Report, mentioned that Pakistan relied upon Chinese weaponry and reportedly leveraged Chinese intelligence to counter India during Operation Sindoor. China expanded its military cooperation with Pakistan in 2025, compounding its own security tensions with India, the report said.
“…the PLA’s fighter jets and air-to-air missiles received their first combat use as Pakistani forces successfully flew Chinese-made fighters during a four-day conflict with India. This marks the first known instance of these systems being tested in actual combat, providing the PLA valuable data and potentially boosting the credibility of China’s defence exports,” the report said.
“Beijing opportunistically leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons, useful in the contexts of its ongoing border tensions with India and its expanding defence industry goals,” it added.
What Beijing gained from the clash
Elaborating further on how China benefitted from the conflict, the report pointed out that Beijing’s HQ-9 air defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and J-10 fighter aircraft got their first brush with combat. With the objective of finding potential buyers, Chinese embassies hailed the successes of these systems in the weeks after the conflict.
The annual report stopped short of stating that Beijing instigated the conflict to boost its weapons sales or was fighting a proxy war. However, it did state that “Pakistan’s military success over India in its four-day clash” showcased Chinese inventory, before it “opportunistically leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons.”
India launched Operation Sindoor, a military campaign against terrorist hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, in May in retaliation for the Pahalgam massacre.
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The attack sparked a brief but intense military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with Pakistan launching a drone strike on India. The Indian forces hit back, inflicting heavy damage on several military installations and airbases inside Pakistan.