The Indian military, for the first time, has officially acknowledged that Pakistan shot down its fighter jets in the recent war; however did not confirm the number of the downed warplanes.
As per details, Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces General Anil Chauhan spoke to Bloomberg on Saturday while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
General Anil Chauhan called Pakistan’s claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes “absolutely incorrect”, though he declined to say how many jets India lost.
It’s the first time the Indian military confirmed that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May.
Chauhan said that it was important for India to ascertain why the jets were downed. “What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,” Chauhan said.
“Why they were down, what mistakes were made — that are important,” Chauhan said when asked about the fighter jets. “Numbers are not important,” he added.
“The good part is that we can understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and fly all our jets again, targeting at long range,” Chauhan said.
The Pakistani government, including PM Shehbaz Sharif himself, earlier claimed that the country’s air force shot down six Indian fighter jets, including four French-made Rafales, during the latest military conflict.
General Chauhan also dismissed US President Donald Trump’s claim that the US helped prevent a nuclear war. He said it was “far-fetched” to think either side was close to using atomic weapons.
