US panel makes big claims on Pakistan's ‘military success’ over India in May

US panel makes big claims on Pakistan's ‘military success’ over India in May, calls Pahalgam 'insurgent' attack

A new report by a US commission claims that Pakistan gained the upper hand during its four-day conflict with India in May 2025 following the Pahalgam terror attack, and that China 'opportunistically' leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons

China also launched a disinformation campaign using fake social-media accounts and AI-generated images to undermine French Rafale aircraft and promote its own J-35 fighters, the report of the ‘US-China Economic and Security Review Commission' (USCC) says.

“Pakistan's military success over India in its four-day clash showcased Chinese weaponry,” the report submitted to the US Congress on Wednesday reads.

India launched ‘Operation Sindoor'—precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir—on May 7, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April 2025, in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed after terrorists opened fire at visitors in Baisaran meadow, a popular tourist spot near Pahalgam in Jammu & Kashmir's Anantnag district.

The USCC claim contradicts India's stand on the conflict. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly said India had showcased its capabilities during “Operation Sindoor” and brought Pakistan to its knees within a few hours.

“While characterisation of this conflict as a ‘proxy war' may overstate China's role as an instigator, Beijing opportunistically leveraged the conflict to test and advertise the sophistication of its weapons, useful in the contexts of its ongoing border tensions with India and its expanding defence industry goals,” the report reads.

The USCC's reference to the India-Pakistan conflict in its report comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has been consistently disregarding New Delhi's rebuttals while reiterating his claims about brokering a ceasefire deal that ended the four-day conflict between the two South Asian neighbours.

What is the USCC?

The US–China Economic and Security Review Commission, also known as the USCC, is an independent, bipartisan commission established by the US Congress in 2000. The commission is tasked with monitoring and reporting on the national security and economic implications of the United States' trade and economic relationship with China.

The annual report presents 28 recommendations across technology, economics, trade, and national security, and also examines how China has utilised industrial policy to position itself to achieve a first-mover advantage in future technologies.

On China's role in the India-Pakistan military conflict, the report says that the clash “drew global attention as Pakistan's military relied upon Chinese weaponry and reportedly leveraged Chinese intelligence”.

Rather than recognising the Pahalgam incident as a terror attack, the report called the four-day clash between India and Pakistan a result “triggered by India's response to a deadly insurgent attack that killed 26 civilians in its contested Jammu and Kashmir region.”

“In the weeks after the conflict, China's embassies hailed the successes of its systems in the India-Pakistan clash, seeking to bolster weapons sales,” the USCC reads.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said the USCC was a "severe setback" for diplomacy, as the report described the Pahalgam terror attack as an "insurgent attack" and hints at Pakistan's success over India during Operation Sindoor.

In an X post, Jairam Ramesh targeted PM Modi, describing the report as "astonishing and beyond understanding" while asking the External Affairs Ministry to register a protest against it.

"The 2025 Annual Report is almost 800 pages long. The sections on pages 108 and 109 are simply astonishing and beyond understanding. It describes the Pahalgam terror attack of April 2025, orchestrated by Pakistan as an 'insurgent attack.' It speaks of 'Pakistan's military success over India' in the four-day clash," Ramesh said in the post on 20 November.

(With agency inputs)

Source: LiveMint
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