India Admits Loss of Warplanes in Recent Clash with Pakistan

News Desk

Islamabad: India has, for the first time, officially acknowledged the loss of its fighter jets during a recent armed clash with Pakistan, though it has withheld details regarding the number and type of aircraft downed.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan confirmed that Indian warplanes were indeed lost during the conflict, which erupted on May 7 following India’s missile attacks on civilian targets inside Pakistani territory.

“What is important is not the jet being downed, but why they were being downed,” General Chauhan said in response to a direct question about India’s air losses.

While this marks the most explicit acknowledgment yet by an Indian official, General Chauhan avoided specifying the number or nature of the aircraft lost. “Numbers are not important,” he insisted. “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement corrective measures. Within two days, we flew all our jets again, targeting from long range.”

Pakistan’s military had earlier claimed to have shot down six Indian aircraft during the intense four-day exchange: three French-made Rafale fighter jets, one Su-30MKI, one Mirage 2000, and one MiG-29. According to Pakistani officials, none of their aircraft crossed the border or engaged in close combat during the confrontation.

The hostilities concluded with a US-brokered ceasefire after talks between the national security advisers of both countries. The truce brought a temporary halt to what had rapidly escalated into one of the most serious military face-offs between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in recent years.