Beijing flexes its military might in South Asia and beyond

The scale and intensity of the four-day India-Pakistan conflict beginning on May 7 was marked by the battlefield debut of China’s advanced military technology. At the onset of the conflict, US Vice-President J.D. Vance stated that the situation was “fundamentally none of our business”. But, in a dramatic reversal, US President Donald Trump soon announced that his administration had brokered a “historic ceasefire” between India and Pakistan.

While India and Pakistan were still exchanging fire, the true victor was China, whose military technology transformed the conflict into a global moment of significance for its arms industry.

After much speculation about its military capacity, Chinese defence tech has arrived on the global stage. The Pakistan Air Force fielded Chinese J-10C fighter jets and JF-17 planes – jointly developed by China and Pakistan – armed with Chinese PL-15 beyond-visual-range missiles. India used its French fighters and Israeli Harop drones, a line-up many, until now, considered technologically superior.