NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — The latest escalation between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region is giving China a strategic intelligence edge, thanks to its close defense ties with Islamabad and a growing surveillance footprint across South Asia.
According to diplomats and military analysts, Beijing is using the conflict to gather valuable real-time data on India’s military operations. This intelligence comes both through Pakistan’s use of Chinese-made weaponry and China’s high-tech monitoring systems positioned on land, at sea, and in space.
Pakistani officials confirmed the use of Chinese-built J-10 fighter jets during recent aerial clashes. Two U.S. officials told Reuters that a J-10 shot down at least two Indian aircraft, including a French-made Rafale. This marked a rare instance of Chinese military hardware being tested in actual combat—a potential goldmine of operational data for Chinese defense engineers and strategists.
“This is an opportunity China doesn’t often get,” a South Asian defense analyst told Reuters. “They’re not just watching from afar—they’re essentially seeing their systems in action, operated by a trusted partner, against one of their regional rivals.”
Pakistan and China share an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership,” a deep alliance that includes joint weapons development, military training, and intelligence sharing. That relationship has allowed China to observe India’s response capabilities firsthand, providing a clearer picture of Indian command and control systems, radar behavior, and missile deployments, including the Indo-Russian BrahMos cruise missile.
In addition to leveraging Pakistani operations, China is directly monitoring Indian activities through a vast surveillance infrastructure. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) reports that China currently operates 267 satellites, with at least 115 dedicated to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and 81 focused on electronic and signals intelligence. This capability far surpasses India’s space-based surveillance and is second globally only to the United States.
“China can monitor almost all Indian military communications and movements across borders and oceans,” a military attaché based in New Delhi noted. “Their ISR advantage is a game-changer.”
China’s focus extends beyond the Himalayan frontier. In the Indian Ocean region, Beijing has significantly increased the presence of civilian research, tracking, and fishing vessels, many of which are believed to be part of its maritime militia. Open-source intelligence platforms have tracked coordinated movements of large Chinese fishing fleets near Indian naval drills in the Arabian Sea. While these vessels are not overtly military, analysts argue they serve as eyes and ears for the Chinese navy under the guise of civilian operations.
Despite not being directly involved in the conflict, Beijing’s intelligence gathering underscores its broader strategic ambitions. By studying how Indian forces operate in real-world conditions, China can refine its defense strategies, strengthen its technological edge, and deepen its military cooperation with Pakistan.
“This isn’t just about Kashmir,” a regional security expert told Reuters. “It’s about understanding India as a military rival—its strengths, its weaknesses, and how to counter them.”
As tensions persist in South Asia, China’s ability to extract intelligence from regional conflicts without direct engagement may continue to reshape the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region.
