SINGAPORE: India’s military has, for the first time, confirmed that country’s fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan during the four-day conflict earlier in May.
India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, acknowledged the loss of fighter jets during an interview with Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. However, he declined to disclose the number of aircraft downed.
“Why they were downed, what mistakes were made — those are important,” General Chauhan said when asked about the loss of Indian fighter jets. “Numbers are not important,” he added, in what is seen as the most direct admission so far by an Indian official regarding the outcome of the conflict. He emphasised that the reasons why the Indian jets were shot down and what the Indian forces did after that were more important.
Notably, Indian fighter jets were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force on the night of May 6-7 in response to the Indian Air Force’s late-night missile strikes at six Pakistani sites. Pakistan took down six Indian jets, including three advanced French Rafale planes. Three Rafales, one Su-30MKI, one Mirage 2000 and one MiG-29 were downed within a 40-minute span.
Until now, the Indian government had remained silent on whether any aircraft were lost in the clashes.
General Chauhan also claimed that the four-day conflict never came close to the point of nuclear war, saying it was “far-fetched” to suggest either side was close to using atomic weapons.
It is significant to note that this is the first time Indian officials have openly admitted to the downing of Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets during the conflict. Previously, IAF Air Marshal and Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) A.K. Bharti had neither confirmed nor denied the loss of aircraft in his public statements.
The admission has drawn renewed attention to the scale and intensity of the recent military engagement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, further highlighting India’s attempts to downplay its operational losses.
It is pertinent to mention that American and French officials also confirmed that Pakistan shot down an Indian jet using fighter aircraft it acquired from China, CNN and Reuters reported earlier in the month. CNN cited a senior US official saying, as per their assessment, Pakistani forces shot down the jet during India’s air strikes inside Pakistan.
A high-ranking French intelligence official also told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan.
Earlier in the month, American newspaper The Washington Post also verified visual evidence that at least two French-made Indian fighter aircraft were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy also admitted in a recent media interview that Pakistan shot down five Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft, during the May military confrontation.
