Missiles & Manners: China’s Peace Lecture While Shipping Warheads
By Dr Noour Ali Zehgeer
The wars fought in Last 100 years were of different nature, the guns will blaze and soldiers will fall like pack of cards. The causality was human lives and destruction of infrastructure was not of that quantum. India and Pakistan have always chosen partners not politically motivated, but as per need based. India sided with USSR and Pakistan did join with China since its existence. India has always added new allies by having excellent foreign policies since 2000, who have acknowledged India being the 4th power in the world and dominated in ASIAN BELT for long time. USA also acknowledged the supremacy of India at various events of international importance. On other side Pakistan had no option but to remain with China to survive as their Army has been always responsible to create instability for their personal Gains. During the times of Bhutto, Pakistan tried best to create a Muslim Front with People or countries have common goal and Mind set. This was not well received by USA and we witnessed elimination of Muslim leaders like Saddam, Gaddafi and Bhutto himself.
A twist of geopolitical theatre worthy of a tragicomedy, China, the global superpower that enjoys thundering around the South China Sea and baring its fangs at Taiwan, has taken up a new role: peace ambassador in South Asia. After India launched precise airstrikes on May 7 under “Operation Sindoor,” targeting nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam tourist attack, Beijing decided to break its usual silence.
Lin Jian, the foreign ministry spokesperson of China, draped in the usual diplomatic jargon, labelled India’s strikes as “regrettable.” Suddenly, the dragon that snarls over island disputes began preaching yoga-level calmness and restraint to India and Pakistan. The irony? China happens to be the principal arms supplier to Pakistan. If restraint were ammunition, Beijing would be fresh out of stock.
To understand China’s sudden transformation from military muscleman to monk, one needs to revisit its ever-blossoming friendship with Pakistan. For decades, China has handed over more than $20 billion in advanced weapons to Pakistan, from JF-17 fighter jets to state-of-the-art drones, satellite surveillance systems to PL-15A beyond-visual-range missiles. In fact, over 80% of China’s global arms exports are wrapped, boxed, and labelled “For Pakistan.”
So, the country calling for peace is also the one helping Islamabad point bigger, shinier guns at New Delhi. That’s not diplomacy; that’s supplying kerosene and then lecturing on fire safety.
And it doesn’t stop with hardware. China has aided Pakistan’s missile development, generously extending its range to cover all of India. One could say Beijing’s contribution to regional stability is like handing a toddler a chainsaw and hoping he learns to garden.
Let’s add another layer to this absurdity. Back in July 2021, when nine Chinese engineers were killed by terrorists in Pakistan’s Dasu hydro project, the Chinese state media — including their favourite mouthpiece, Global Times — screamed for missile strikes inside Pakistan. Peace and dialogue? Apparently, those are only for India.
This time, the same Global Times claimed India’s May 7 operation killed 26 civilians and injured 46 others. They even conjured up a tale of three Indian jets being shot down, prompting the Indian Embassy in Beijing to send a “fact-check” note, diplomatically telling the Chinese tabloid to stop binge-watching military fiction.
Meanwhile, on the international stage, China has been Pakistan’s loyal diplomatic bouncer. At the United Nations Security Council’s 1267 committee on counter-terrorism, Beijing has repeatedly used its veto muscle to shield Pakistan-based terrorists from international censure. The recent Pahalgam attack? China made sure the resolution read more like a mild reprimand than a strong condemnation.
All this mollycoddling isn’t born out of brotherly love. It’s business. It’s real estate. It’s logistics. It’s the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $62 billion artery of roads, railways, and pipelines slicing through Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK — territories India rightfully claims. Since the 1963 border agreement where Pakistan gifted portions of PoK to China, the latter has been building its influence inch by strategic inch.
China’s infrastructural invasion is guarded by an entire division of Pakistan’s military whose full-time job is not fighting terror but protecting Chinese-funded highways, hydro projects, and whatnot. Sovereignty violations? Apparently, Beijing calls those “development opportunities.”
Back in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wasn’t buying any of it. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Qingdao, he firmly called CPEC a blatant breach of India’s sovereignty. Fast forward to 2025, and India’s surgical retaliation is a thunderous reminder that New Delhi will not sit back while Beijing plays geopolitical puppeteer with Pakistan.
But China wants it both ways: play the benefactor in Islamabad, the peacemaker in New York, and the regional hegemon in Asia. It’s a curious diplomatic yoga pose: one leg on military escalation, the other on strategic restraint.
India, however, has read the dragon’s playbook. It knows that a nation that weaponizes foreign policy can’t also claim to be the torchbearer of peace. Not when it blocks UN sanctions against terror groups on one hand and signs billion-dollar arms deals with their sponsors on the other.
And now, as India takes a firm stance against terrorism with its airstrikes, the same China that wants to establish police stations across Pakistan to protect its own engineers is urging everyone else to “calm down.” Maybe Beijing should send those messages to itself before posting them on state-run news tickers.
I would like to mention her China does not help Pakistan out of love, but for an agenda where they want to grab territory of India in North East and Jammu Kashmir. He is helping enemy of the neighbouring country.
So, next time you hear Beijing say, “We urge both sides to de-escalate,” remember — this is coming from the same country that fuels one side, with the problem, blocks the solution, and still wants applause for being neutral.
Because nothing says “peacemaker” quite like a crate of drones and a side of double standards.