Washington/Islamabad:A report submitted to the US Congress has acknowledged Pakistan’s military success over India during the four-day conflict in May 2025, describing the clash as a real-time demonstration of China’s growing defense capabilities. The report, presented by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, noted that Pakistan claimed to have shot down seven Indian aircraft initially announcing five kills while denying the loss of any of its own planes. Islamabad also stated that it struck 26 Indian targets in retaliation for attacks on three of its airbases. Former US president Donald Trump, who has continued commenting on the confrontation, recently said that eight planes were essentially shot down during the conflict.
The report highlighted China’s significant role, saying Beijing used the crisis to test and promote its own defense capabilities. It said Pakistan relied heavily on Chinese weaponry and reportedly used Chinese intelligence support, although China neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, and Pakistan rejected India’s accusations. The report observed that China considered the conflict an opportunity to showcase its advanced systems amid its own border tensions with India.
According to the Commission, the May clash marked the first combat use of several modern Chinese systems, including the HQ-9 air defense system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and J-10 fighter aircraft. This allowed China to treat the conflict as a “real-world field experiment, helping it assess and advertise the performance of its military technologies. The report also pointed out that China supplied 82 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023, underscoring the strength of the defense partnership.
The document further recalled that China and Pakistan conducted the Warrior-VIII counterterrorism drills in late 2024, while the Chinese navy participated in Pakistan’s AMAN multinational exercises earlier this year. These joint drills intensified concerns in New Delhi, where analysts described them as direct security threats.
In June, China reportedly offered Pakistan a package including 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, KJ-500 early warning aircraft, and ballistic missile defense systems. That same month, Islamabad raised its defense budget by 20 percent bringing total expenditures to $9 billion despite an overall reduction in the national budget.
The report also cited allegations by French intelligence that China launched a disinformation campaign to undermine French Rafale fighter sales, using fake social media accounts and AI-generated images to promote its own J-35 jets by showing fabricated debris from alleged Indian aircraft losses.
The conflict itself began after an attack on tourists in occupied Kashmir, which India blamed on Pakistan without providing evidence. Pakistan firmly rejected the allegation and called for a neutral investigation. India then launched air strikes in Punjab and Azad Kashmir on May 7, prompting Pakistan to carry out retaliatory strikes on Indian airbases. The exchange of hostilities continued for four days until US intervention on May 10 enabled both sides to reach a ceasefire.