NEW DELHI: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday questioned what he described as conflicting statements by senior military officials on the extent of cooperation between Pakistan and China during Operation Sindoor.Sharing video clips on X, Ramesh said Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul Singh had, on July 4, 2025, highlighted what he called the “very disturbingly deep nature” of the Pakistan-China partnership during the military operation.The Congress leader contrasted those remarks with comments made by former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan on August 25, 2026, saying Chauhan’s account appeared to be “simply opposite” to that of Lt. Gen. Singh.“On July 4 2025, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen Rahul Singh had revealed the very disturbingly deep nature of the Pakistan-China jugalbandi during Operation Sindoor. On Aug 25, 2026, the former Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan made his own revelations on this jugalbandi – which are simply opposite to what Lt. Gen Singh had said. The nation is confused,” said Ramesh on X.The Congress leader questioned whether the differing accounts reflected a broader effort to shape the public narrative around India’s relations with China.“What is going on here? Is there some deeper plan to change the narrative?” he asked.He also linked the issue to the Centre’s broader China policy, alleging that there had been a “calibrated capitulation to China” and citing what he described as the Prime Minister’s “infamous clean chit to China on June 2020” as well as India’s record trade deficits with China.
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Ramesh’s remarks came ex-CDS Chauhan, speaking at the ‘VIMARSH’ event on Operation Sindoor and its aftermath at the Vivekananda International Foundation, said Pakistan had failed to obtain evidence of the targets struck by India despite attempts to access commercial satellite imagery.Chauhan said the presence of Chinese personnel supporting Pakistan’s military equipment during Operation Sindoor should be viewed in the context of “contractual obligations”, while cautioning against drawing conclusions beyond established facts.In the clip shared by Ramesh, General Singh can be heard stating that the key lessons from Operation Sindoor were that India faced a multi-adversary challenge, with Pakistan at the forefront and China and Turkey providing significant military support. He added that China also used the conflict to assess its weapons and systems in a real-world environment.India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, 2025, days after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. The operation targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK).
