China-Pakistan-Bangladesh convergence may impact India, says CDS Chauhan

New Delhi: There has been a convergence of interests between China, Pakistan and Bangladesh which may have implications for India, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said. He added that economic distress in the Indian Ocean Region has opened the door for debt diplomacy and the world is transitioning, with the US adding to the flux.

Speaking at an ORF event, the top officer said that during Operation Sindoor, no unusual activities were observed on the border with China and said it is very difficult to define how much state support Pakistan got from China during the four-day conflict with India.

"Fact is that Pakistan imports most of its weapons from China. Chinese OEMs have a number of liabilities so there will be people who are attempting to service their liabilities so they will be there. That happens everywhere... There are a number of Chinese companies also doing work for commercial imagery. You have Maxar and Planet Labs. You can go to China or to the US. How much of (it is) state support is very difficult to define," he said.


On Operation Sindoor, the CDS said that during the conflict, there was a lot of space for conventional warfare and India's targets were terrorist infrastructure. He said that the conflict proved wrong the old doctrine that nuclear weapons would deter conventional warfare.

Importantly, the officer said that the operation is not yet over and is currently on a pause, adding that there is an expanded space for conventional operations if needed. He also described Operation Sindoor as non-contact warfare.