India & China – International relations and geopolitical experts will call them Strategic Competitors, and an emotionally charged monologue on TV will label them enemies. But after the recent India-Pakistan conflict which saw the extensive use of Chinese weapon systems and Chinese manufactured jets attacking Indian soil, is there even a relationship left to label any more?

It was no secret that China has been arming Pakistan for a long time now. But during the conflict, it went a step further, helping Pakistan diplomatically to secure IMF loans, and on the battlefield helped the terror-sponsoring state reorganise its radar and air defence systems to more effectively detect India’s deployments of troops and weaponry.

These actions warrant a re-orientation of India-China relations which had been relatively thawing. China’s role in enabling India’s primary adversary is something that can set this already fractured relationship decades back. It hampers any genuine cooperation, and raises an important question: Can India and China truly build a stable relationship when one actively arms and diplomatically and militarily supports the other’s main regional adversary?

The recent conflict between India and Pakistan exposed a dimension of the China-Pakistan relationship that extends beyond mere arms sales, raising profound questions for India’s strategic calculus. According to an analysis from a research group under India’s Ministry of Defence, China provided significant air defence and satellite support to Pakistan during the hostilities in May 2025. This assessment, offered by the director general of the Centre For Joint Warfare Studies, suggests Beijing was more directly involved than previously understood.

Specific details highlight the depth of this support: China reportedly assisted Pakistan in reorganising its radar and air defence systems, enhancing their ability to detect Indian troop and weaponry deployments. Furthermore, China allegedly helped Pakistan........

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