‘Pakistan had live tracking of Indian military assets:’ India’s deputy army chief

India’s Deputy Chief of Army Staf, Lieutenant General Rahul Singh, admitted shortcomings in India's preparedness during the May 2025 military conflict with Pakistan, known as Operation Sindoor, and acknowledged the technological edge held by the Pakistan Armed Forces.

Speaking at the ‘New Age Military Technologies’ conference organized by FICCI, General Singh noted that the Indian military was facing "two adversaries" during the conflict, Pakistan as the primary opponent, and China as a strong supporting force behind it.

“Few lessons that I thought I must flag as far as 'Operation Sindoor' is concerned. Firstly, one border, two adversaries. Pakistan was a front face. We had China providing all possible support, and it's no surprise,” General Singh stated.

He claimed that China supplied 81% of Pakistan’s military hardware, making the battlefield a "testing ground" for advanced Chinese weapon systems being operated by Pakistani forces.

General Singh further said that Turkiye was supporting Pakistan in the domain of drone warfare, strengthening Pakistan’s unmanned aerial capabilities during the operation.

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Highlighting the significant gap in Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, General Singh said India must drastically improve in this area, as Pakistan demonstrated superior real-time situational awareness during the conflict.

“When the DGMO level talks were going on, Pakistan actually was mentioning that we know that your such and such important, sort of vector is primed, and it is ready for action. I would request you to perhaps, you know, pull it back. So he was getting live inputs from China. So, that is one place we really need to move fast and take appropriate action,” he admitted.

While India boasts advanced military hardware, General Singh subtly pointed to internal shortcomings, indicating that IAF pilots were unable to fully utilise the technological advantages at their disposal.

He concluded by stressing the urgent need for India to accelerate its capabilities in ISR and electronic warfare to match regional threats and technological advancements.