SINGAPORE: In a rare and significant admission, the Indian military has acknowledged for the first time that it lost fighter jets during the recent clashes with Pakistan earlier this month. However, Indian officials maintain that the four-day conflict never escalated to the brink of nuclear war.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, stated, “The more important question is not whether jets were shot down, but why they were shot down.” He dismissed Pakistan’s claim that six Indian jets were destroyed as “completely false,” yet declined to specify how many aircraft India actually lost.
Chauhan added that India recognized the mistakes made during the initial engagements, corrected them promptly, and successfully launched long-range airstrikes just two days later. “All our jets were flying again,” he asserted, emphasizing the resilience of Indian forces.
This statement marks the most direct acknowledgment from a high-ranking Indian official regarding the aerial losses during the flare-up that began on May 7, a confrontation many analysts have described as the worst military exchange between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in over 50 years.
The hostilities were triggered by a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, which killed 26 civilians. India blamed Pakistan for supporting terrorism, a charge Islamabad strongly denied, calling for an impartial international investigation instead.
While Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif claimed that six Indian jets had been downed—an assertion not independently verified—New Delhi previously avoided any comments confirming or denying the loss of its aircraft.
When asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that American intervention helped prevent a nuclear war, General Chauhan declined to comment directly but suggested those remarks were exaggerated. “In my personal view, there’s a wide gap between conventional warfare and the use of nuclear weapons,” he said, noting that communication lines with Pakistan remained open throughout the crisis.
Chauhan also rejected reports that Pakistan’s use of Chinese-supplied weapons gave it an advantage. “They didn’t work,” he said bluntly, in reference to claims that China had provided Pakistan with advanced air-defense systems and satellite support during the conflict.
India, according to Chauhan, successfully targeted military sites 300 kilometers deep inside Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to reinforce its air defense significantly.
Both countries have reportedly dispatched diplomatic delegations to global capitals in a bid to shape international opinion, amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Concluding his remarks, General Chauhan emphasized that the current ceasefire still holds, but warned that its future depends on Pakistan’s behavior moving forward. “We have drawn very clear red lines,” he said.