A recent report submitted to the United States Congress has acknowledged Pakistan’s military success over India during the four-day conflict in May this year, confirming that Pakistani forces used advanced Chinese-made weapons to shoot down several Indian fighter jets, including the French-built Rafale aircraft.

According to the report, the confrontation began after India carried out strikes inside Pakistan following a deadly attack in Pahalgam town in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, which claimed 26 lives.

The assessment, published by the US–China Economic and Security Review Commission, reviews defence and foreign policy matters involving Washington and Beijing. It highlights the growing strategic and military cooperation between Pakistan and China, noting that Islamabad relied on modern Chinese weaponry to gain a battlefield advantage over India.

For the first time, Pakistan deployed some of China’s most sophisticated defence systems in active combat, including the HQ-9 air-defence system, PL-15 air-to-air missiles, and the J-10C fighter jets. The report states that Pakistan shot down seven Indian fighter jets — among them Rafales — turning the clash into a major “selling point” for China’s global defence marketing efforts.

It further reveals that in June, China offered Pakistan a package of high-tech military equipment, including 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, KJ-500 surveillance aircraft, and advanced ballistic missile defence systems.

The report also underlined the severity of the confrontation, pointing out that both countries attacked targets deeper inside each other's territories than at any time in the last five decades.

The conflict erupted when India launched missile strikes inside Pakistan on the night of May 5 and 6, claiming they were aimed at “terrorist targets” linked to the Pahalgam attack. However, the strikes resulted in the martyrdom of several Pakistani civilians and security personnel. In response, Pakistan not only downed multiple Indian jets — including Rafales — but also intercepted dozens of drones.

Pakistan’s military then initiated a large-scale retaliatory offensive, Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, hitting over 20 Indian military installations across various regions. During the operation, the Pakistan Air Force used JF-17 Thunder jets equipped with hypersonic missiles to destroy India’s S-400 air-defence system in Adampur.