India Confirms Jet Losses in Clash with Pakistan: Full Statement by Air Chief

General Anil Chauhan, India’s arch of defense staff, has accepted that a bearding cardinal of fighter jets were attempting bottomward during its action with Pakistan aftermost month.

The accepting of aeriform losses by the country’s accomplished baronial accepted comes weeks afterwards the two South Asian neighbours were affianced in their heaviest angry in decades, which complex fighter jets and cruise missiles.

Indian admiral had ahead banned to affirm or abjure Pakistani claims of downing Indian jets. The action was triggered afterwards gunmen dead 26 tourists in India-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam boondocks on April 22.

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India’s aboriginal official acceptance of a accident of fighter jets came during Chauhan’s interviews on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue aegis appointment in Singapore.

What was the action amid India and Pakistan?

India agitated out strikes on what it alleged “terror infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on May 7 in backfire for the Pahalgam attack. India abhorrent armed groups backed by Pakistan for the April 22 attack.

An armed accumulation alleged The Resistance Front (TRF) claimed albatross for the Pahalgam killings. India accused the TRF of actuality an adjunct of the Pakistan-based armed accumulation Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let). Pakistan denied involvement, accusatory the Pahalgam advance and calling for an aloof investigation.

India claimed to accept targeted at atomic six cities in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir on the aboriginal day of the conflict. Pakistan initially asserted that it had downed six Indian fighter jets in retaliation. But a arch Pakistan official told Al Jazeera bristles Indian aircraft were absent in the aeriform battle.

India did not affirm or abjure the Pakistani claims. “Losses are a allotment of combat,” Air Marshal AK Bharti, India’s administrator accepted of air operations, said at a account appointment on May 11.

The Indian admiral in China alleged letters of the downing of jets “disinformation”.

After that, tit-for-tat cross-border attacks beyond the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto bound amid India- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, ashamed the region, renewing fears of a nuclear war.

On May 10, United States Admiral Donald Trump appear that the two countries had accomplished a ceasefire, potentially arresting a “nuclear disaster”. India and Pakistan accept accustomed aggressive claims on casualties in the fighting, but added than 70 bodies were dead on both sides.

Both India and Pakistan affirmation Kashmir in abounding but administrate alone genitalia of the Muslim-majority Himalayan territory.

Here is what Chauhan said in contempo interviews with the Reuters account bureau and Bloomberg TV:

On the downing of Indian fighter jets
Chauhan accepted that India suffered air losses on the aboriginal day of angry afterwards giving details.

In an account with Reuters, he said: “What was important is why did these losses action and what we’ll do afterwards that.”

The Indian accepted said that afterwards the losses, the Indian army “rectified tactics” and afresh went aback on May 7, 8 and 10 “in ample numbers to hit airbases abysmal central Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, agitated out attention strikes”. He added that the Indian air force “flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordnances” on May 10.

Islamabad accustomed that its airbases suffered some basal losses but denied that it absent any planes.

When a Bloomberg anchorman asked Chauhan about Pakistan’s claims that six Indian jets were downed, Chauhan responded that this advice was incorrect.

He went on to say: “What is important is … not the jets actuality downed but why they were downed.” Some media outlets accepted that his account appeared to betoken that a cardinal of jets were absent in the aeriform battle.

The accepted did not accommodate capacity about the cardinal of jets downed or specifics about what these rectified approach were.

The Pakistani aggressive said India did not fly its fighter jets in the action afresh afterwards adversity the air losses.

On the risks of nuclear war

Media letters appropriate that some attacks were abreast Pakistan’s nuclear sites, but the nuclear basement itself was not a target.

“Most of the strikes were delivered with define accuracy, some alike to a accent [3.3ft] to whatever was our alleged beggarly point of impact,” Chauhan said in the account with Reuters.

Chauhan had ahead provided assurances that India was not because application nuclear weapons during the conflict. The administrator of Pakistan’s collective chiefs of staff, Accepted Sahir Shamshad Mirza, has done the aforementioned for his country.

“I anticipate there’s a lot of amplitude afore that nuclear beginning is crossed, a lot of signalling afore that. I anticipate annihilation like that happened. There’s a lot of amplitude for accepted operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm,” Chauhan said.

The Indian accepted added that on both sides, the best “rational bodies are in uniform” during action because they accept the after-effects of “this affectionate of conflict”.

“I begin both abandon announcement a lot of adherence in their thoughts as able-bodied as actions. So why should we accept that in the nuclear area there will be applesauce on addition else’s part?”

On Chinese role

The Indian arch of defense agents said that while Pakistan enjoys an abutting accord with China, there was no assurance that Beijing helped Islamabad during the conflict.

China sits on India’s arctic and eastern borders and controls a almost inhabited northeastern area in Kashmir alleged Aksai Chin.

“We didn’t acquisition any abnormal action in the operational or appropriate abyss of our arctic borders, and things were about all right,” Chauhan said.

When Chauhan was asked whether China provided Pakistan with intelligence advice such as accessory imagery, the Indian accepted responded by adage that such advice is commercially accessible and Pakistan could accept acquired it from China or added sources.

However, Chauhan said “almost 80 percent of the equipment” in Pakistan has been acquired from China in the accomplished few years.

From 2020 to 2025, China supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s accoutrements imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Chinese jets got a addition afterwards media letters said Pakistan acclimated Chinese-manufactured J-10C fighter jets in the air battle. The Chinese government did not clearly affirm that the J-10C jets were acclimated to bottomward Indian jets, but China Central Television, a accompaniment broadcaster, acquaint on amusing media on May 17 that the jets accomplished absolute action after-effects for the aboriginal time.

What’s next

Chauhan said that while hostilities accept ceased, India would “respond absolutely and actually should there be any added alarm attacks appearing from Pakistan”. He added that this will be a new accustomed for India.

“So that has its own dynamics as far [as] the armed armament are concerned. It will crave us to be able 24/7.”

The admiral of the capital action Indian National Congress affair said Chauhan’s acceptance warrants a analysis of India’s defence preparedness.

“There are some actual important questions which charge to be asked. These can alone be asked if a Special Session of the Parliament is anon convened,” Mallikarjun Kharge wrote in an X column on Saturday.

Referring to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he added: “The Modi Govt has addled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing.”

“We address [the Indian military’s] adamant adventuresomeness and bravery,” Kharge said. “However, a absolute cardinal analysis is the charge of the hour.”

The Congress affair has alleged the Pahalgam advance a “security and intelligence failure” and approved accountability, accustomed that India-administered Kashmir is anon absolute from New Delhi.