China used India-Pakistan conflict as 'live lab',backed Pakistan to harm India: Lt Gen Rahul R Singh
New Delhi (PTI): China used Pakistan to cause pain to India and it was providing all possible support to its all-weather ally during the four-day conflict between Indian and Pakistani militaries in May, Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Rahul R Singh said on Friday.
In an address at industry chamber FICCI, the senior official said China also used the India-Pakistan conflict like a "live lab" available to test various weapon systems.
Lt Gen. Singh also highlighted China's ancient military strategy of "36 stratagems" and killing the adversary with a "borrowed knife" to buttress the point that Beijing extended all possible support to Pakistan to harm India.
India was actually dealing with three adversaries, he said, suggesting that besides Pakistan and China, Turkiye was also playing a major role in supplying military hardware to Islamabad.
The Deputy Chief of Army Staff, who looks after the Indian Army's capability development and sustenance vertical, said Beijing's support to Islamabad was not surprising as 81 per cent of the military hardware of the Pakistani armed forces are from China.
"He (China) would rather use the neighbour to cause pain (to India) than getting involved in a mudslinging match on the northern border," Lt Gen. Singh said.
"Pakistan was the front face. We had China providing all possible support. And there was no surprise because, if you look at the statistics in the last five years, 81 per cent of the military hardware that Pakistan is getting is all Chinese," he said.
Lt Gen. Singh said Turkiye also played an important role in providing support to Pakistan.
"We saw numerous drones coming and landing in the face of war, during the war, along with the individuals who were there," he said.
The Deputy Chief of Army Staff said the "strategic messaging" by the Indian leadership was unambiguous, adding that the planning and selection of targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) was based on a lot of data.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
New Delhi has been maintaining that India's fierce counter-attack that day forced Pakistan to plead for ending the hostilities.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
