Now that comments are back—let’s look at this dispassionately. Set aside emotion and accept a simple civilizational fact: South Asia should be plural, civil, and syncretic. Its unity lies in its AASI roots and Sanskritic inheritance, whether acknowledged or not. Otherwise who were the winners, losers and in-betweeners of this senseless conflict?
Prefacing the below with Xperia’s comment in the interests of neutrality and impartiality:
There is however a ton of evidence that Pakistani airfields were put out of operation, at least one hanger hit killing personnel inside. Runways blown up. C130 in flames.
This was was not a dogfight, it was a drone and missile war. The Indian defence was layered and effective. All airports operational and runways intact.
Op sec was also much better on the Indian side, you don’t have any pictures of army personnel firing missiles and jumping around next to locals.
Don’t worry so much about the stock prices. The Chinese market is propaganda in itself.
https://x.com/ConflictMoniter has good OSINT in case you want to take a look.
https://x.com/MenchOsint is more neutral and unbiased.
That said, the data circulating on Telegram suggests a major strategic recalibration is underway.
Without speculating on war origins, the result is seismic: India just suffered its worst aerial defeat. Five high-end aircraft—3 Rafales, 1 MiG-29, 1 Su-30—and 1 Israeli Heron drone were downed. None returned. This is more than battlefield loss. It’s a realignment.
1. Chinese Systems, Pakistani Trigger
For the first time, Pakistan deployed Chinese-made HQ-9B, LY-80, HQ-16 air defenses and J-10C, JF-17 fighters in live combat. All Indian aircraft were neutralized. Not a single Chinese platform was hit.
This wasn’t just retaliation. It was a demonstration. Rafales—France’s pride—were shot down for the first time in history. With zero Pakistani losses, China’s weapons just outperformed Western tech on a global stage.
2. Markets Reacted
• Dassault Aviation (Rafale): ↓ 1.6%
• Chengdu Aircraft Corp (J-10C): ↑ 18%
A $25M Chinese jet took out over $100M in Western tech. That resets the cost-benefit of warfare. Permanently.
3. Strategic Ripples
• Pakistan’s dependence on China is now military, not just economic.
• Chinese systems will gain traction in the Middle East, especially with Egypt.
• India’s strategic posture faces urgent questions—its French, Russian, Israeli kit just got field-tested—and failed.