Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir has dismissed Indian claims that Beijing provided military support to Islamabad during the recent Operation Sindoor, calling the allegations “factually incorrect” and an attempt to politicize a bilateral conflict.
Addressing graduating officers at the National Defence University in Islamabad, General Munir strongly refuted suggestions made by Indian Army’s Deputy Chief, Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh, who last week said China had used the May conflict as a “live lab” to test new weapon systems while backing Pakistan’s military effort.
“Innuendos regarding external support in Pakistan’s successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos are irresponsible and factually incorrect,” Munir said. “They reflect a chronic reluctance to acknowledge indigenous capability and institutional resilience developed over decades of strategic prudence.”
General Munir argued that such accusations were rooted in what he termed India’s “parochial self-alignment,” and represented an effort to drag other states into a conflict that, he insisted, was purely bilateral. “Naming other states as participants in the conflagration is a shoddy attempt at playing camp politics,” he said.
Lt Gen Rahul R Singh, while speaking at a defence seminar in Delhi last week, had stated that China offered comprehensive military support to Pakistan, and that India was effectively facing three adversaries during the May 7–10 clashes — with Turkiye allegedly supplying Islamabad with modern military hardware alongside Beijing’s backing.
Responding to these assertions, General Munir said, “Wars are not won through media rhetoric, imported fancy hardware, or political sloganeering, but through faith, professional competence, operational clarity, institutional strength and national resolve.”
He further warned that any future attempt to target Pakistan’s population centres, military installations, or economic assets would trigger a “deeply hurting and more than reciprocal response.”
Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7 as a retaliatory strike following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Indian forces targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled territories, leading to four days of high-intensity conflict that concluded with a mutual understanding to halt hostilities on May 10.
India has since maintained that Pakistan was forced to seek an end to the fighting after facing a fierce and sustained counterattack. However, General Munir’s remarks reflect Islamabad’s firm rejection of this narrative, as both sides continue to shape public perceptions in the aftermath of the brief but intense conflict.
