Kumar Bahukhandi
Drone (representative) – Photo – Reuters
There was a time when Chinese equipment was considered inferior to that of Russia, but that is no longer the case. By helping the enemies, China is increasing the danger for us.
There was a time when Chinese equipment was considered inferior to that of Russia, but that is no longer the case. By helping the enemies, China is increasing the danger for us.
As the conflict between India and Pakistan subsides, both sides, and even the international community, will evaluate the performance of the two sides and the military weapons deployed by them. There is a flood of misinformation in the news and social media at this time, so it is difficult to distinguish between truth and lie. But only by facing the reality can we learn from it and move forward. To move forward, we need the ability to accept our shortcomings and correct our mistakes.
Pakistan used Chinese systems in response to Operation Sindoor. Obviously, our main rival in this region is China, which has invested heavily in science and technology, even in the defense sector. There was a time when Chinese equipment was considered inferior to Russian, because it was largely a copy of them, but now it is not so.
The conflict between India and Pakistan escalated rapidly on the night of May 9 and 10. Pakistan dared to attack Indian military bases with missiles, and India retaliated and destroyed them. In a media briefing on May 10 morning, the government rejected Pakistan’s claim that it had inflicted major damage on Indian military infrastructure. On the other hand, India said that we have attacked Pakistani military installations in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala and Rahim Yar Khan in retaliation to Pakistani audacity. Radar sites in Pasrur and Sialkot were also damaged.
The incident happened a day after India disabled air defence radar sites in Lahore and Karachi. According to a press release issued by the government on May 8, India targeted Pakistan’s air defence radars and systems at several other locations. ANI was quoted as saying that 15 missiles fired at India were neutralised using the S-400 system.
India used Israeli Harpy and Harop drones to neutralise Pakistan’s air defence system. India has more than 100 of these high-capacity Harpy and Harop drones, which are actually missiles. We have some Israeli origin attack drones in our arsenal and now we are preparing to buy American MQ-9 Predator attack drones as well. Harpy and Harop can fly for six hours in the war zone and when they detect a radar that is on, they can target it and destroy it with their 32 kg weapon.
One special thing is that the military forces of both sides used long range air-to-air and air-to-ground attack missiles without crossing the international border. This has caused damage to the resources of both sides. India has confirmed the discovery of the wreckage of a Pakistani Mirage-V. There was a time when there was firing by soldiers on the Line of Control (LoC), but now it is being replaced by fighter jets, missiles and drones.
The first reason for escalating the conflict is that India did not target military targets on the first day, only attacked terrorist hideouts. Though the Indian aircraft fired their missiles from Indian territory, they were bombarded with air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles from across the border in Pakistan. This was followed by drone attacks by Pakistan targeting Indian military installations on Wednesday night (7 May), which escalated the conflict. This was the time when India decided to destroy Pakistan’s air defence system, which it should have done earlier. But it was later that India spectacularly destroyed the HQ-9 air defence missile site outside Lahore.
After this, ceasefire efforts began. US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio claimed that they had negotiated a ceasefire by talking to all parties, including Indian Prime Minister Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif. However, India has rejected US mediation. Prime Minister Modi also made it clear in his address to the nation by not mentioning the US that India will now talk to Pakistan only on terrorism and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (Po J K).
The author is a distinguished fellow of the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.
