Communism and Propaganda go hand in hand !! China used its missions to foil Rafale jets' sales after Op Sindoor

In a move to harm the Rafale's reputation, China's foreign missions sought to persuade countries that ordered the French-made fighter not to buy them and encourage others to go for Chinese-made jets, a French military official said.  

It may be mentioned that the missile strikes deep inside Pakistan during Operation Sindoor targeting terror camps were not just calibrated but also had a high impact. And India's weapons of choice were the Scalp cruise missiles and HAMMER precision-guided munitions that were equipped on the Rafale fighter jets.

Missiles rained down on nine locations in Pakistan, including Bahawalpur and Muridke, the strongholds of terror outfits Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba respectively.  

China sought to undermine Rafale's global reputation, French officials said

China's foreign embassies asked buyers not to buy Rafale planes

Disinformation campaign aimed to promote Chinese-made fighter jets

China ran a disinformation campaign against Rafale fighter jets, using its embassies to undermine the sales of the French high-tech advanced planes following their use by India during Operation Sindoor. The development came months after China's 'all-weather ally' Pakistan claimed it downed three Rafales during the four-day military conflict with India. 

However, Eric Trappier, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, the French company that makes Rafale jets, called Pakistan's claim "inaccurate".  

Recently, India's Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, admitted for the first time that an unspecified number of its fighter jets were downed during the hostilities with Pakistan. However, he dismissed Pakistan's claims of shooting down Rafales, saying they were "absolutely incorrect".   

French military officials said the disinformation campaign included viral posts on social media, manipulated imagery showing supposed Rafale debris, AI-generated content and video-game depictions to simulate supposed combat, according to The Associated Press.

More than 1,000 social media accounts newly created as the India-Pakistan conflict erupted also spread a narrative of Chinese technological superiority, according to French researchers who specialise in online disinformation.

According to France's Defence Ministry, the Rafale was targeted by "a vast campaign of disinformation" that "sought to promote the superiority of alternative equipment, notably of Chinese design".

"The Rafale was not randomly targeted. It is a highly capable fighter jet, exported abroad and deployed in a high-visibility theatre," the ministry wrote on its website.

The ministry also said the Rafale was made a target in China's disinformation campaign, saying it represented a "strategic French offering".

Over the last decade, India's defence capability has increased manifold.  

After 1999, the Kargil Review Committee Report after scrutinizing things in details had emphasized the need for changes in national security system and for evolving a better defence and strategic management.

A Report from the Group of Ministers had said - "Indeed, in just the last decade, India’s security scenario has witnessed nothing short of sea change as a result of the end of the Cold War, the proxy war in Kashmir, militancy fuelled from abroad in many parts of the country, the Revolution in Military Affairs and the increasing nuclearisation of the neighbourhood.”

Four top ministers in the Vajpayee cabinet - L K Advani (Home), George Fernandes (Defence), Jaswant Singh (External Affairs) and Yashwant Sinha (Finance) had worked in details and had stated among others things external environment and internal situation of a country do not subsist in watertight compartments but act and react on each other in ways which affect its security. "In today's interdependent world, the distinction between internal and external security concerns often gets blurred", the GoM said. 

***  First CDS, Gen Bipin Rawat, now deceased, had alerted the country of a 2.5 front war -against Pakistan, against China and of course against enemies within the country. PM Narendra Modi had said - "...Bharat dukh mein haen, lekin na hum apni Gati rokten haen, aur na hi hamari pragati.... Wherever General Bipin Rawat maybe, in the days to come, he will see India moving ahead with new resolutions". 

*** Brig Trigunsh Mukherjee wrote -- "Crises, remote areas and calamities always see the army as the first and sometimes the only rays of hope". 

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