Following Lt Gen Rahul Singh’s explosive remarks that China shared data on India’s assets to Pakistan, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that the Deputy Army Chief’s comments “gives public expression to what had been feared, which is that we were actually fighting China, we were not fighting Pakistan.”
Jairam Ramesh further said that “China was micromanaging the Pakistan Air Force to an extraordinary degree,” claiming that this was the reason why the Congress has been “asking for a discussion on the strategic challenges, economic challenges, diplomatic challenges being posed by China.”
The Congress MP’s comments come after Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Capability Development & Sustenance) Lt Gen Rahul R Singh said that “81 per cent of the military hardware with Pakistan is Chinese” and that China was providing all possible support to Pakistan during India’s Operation Sindoor.
China-Pakistan alliance
Lt Gen Rahul Singh made the statement while speaking at the ‘New Age Military Technologies’ event organised by FICCI, on Friday.
While addressing the Pakistan-China alliance, the deputy army chief flagged that India actually has ‘three adversaries’, where Pakistan was on the front and China was providing all possible support to India’s arch-rival.
Lt Gen Rahul Singh also mentioned Turkey, which has repeatedly vowed its support for Pakistan since Operation Sindoor.
India-China border dispute
India and China share a 3, 800 km largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas and have gone to war over it.
Following the border standoff in eastern Ladakh, India has consistently maintained that peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) are essential for normalising overall ties with China.
The standoff began in May 2020, with a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June that year leading to a sharp deterioration in bilateral relations.
The face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from Demchok and Depsang’s last two friction points under an agreement finalised on October 21.
India’s Operation Sindoor in Pakistan & PoK
For nearly four days after India struck nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as part of its Operation Sindoor, the nuclear-armed nations were locked in intense hostilities, with Pakistan launching a wave of drone attacks across several Indian border states.
Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the districts of Poonch and Rajouri, were the hardest hit. Over 10 civilians were killed in J&K and Punjab, while India said that over 100 terrorists were eliminated during Operation Sindoor.
