CDS Anil Chauhan Responds to Pakistan's Claim of Shooting Down 6 Indian Jets

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): India's Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan on Saturday acknowledged the loss of Indian Air Force fighter jets during the recent tension with Pakistan. However, he termed Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's claim that six Indian jets, including four Rafales, were shot down as "absolutely wrong". In an interview to Bloomberg TV, General Chauhan said that it is more important to find out why the planes were lost so that the Indian Army can improve its strategy and take better action in the future.

“I think what is important is not that the planes were shot down but why they were shot down,” Gen Chauhan said. When asked if India lost fighter jets during the four-day military clashes with Pakistan earlier this month, he replied, “The good thing is that we were able to understand our tactical mistakes, corrected them, rectified them and then re-applied them after two days. We again flew all our jets at long range targets.”

When asked about Pakistan's claim of shooting down six Indian jets during 'Operation Sindoor', Gen Chauhan categorically said, "Absolutely false." Earlier, IAF's Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti had also termed the losses as a part of war and admitted that there were some losses but he also said that all the IAF pilots had returned home safely. Air Marshal Bharti had made this remark in a media briefing on May 11 when he was asked about India's aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor.