CDS Gen Chauhan admits to losses during Op Sindoor, rejects Pakistan’s claim of 6 fighters downed

In interview with Bloomberg TV, CDS terms Pakistan’s claim it shot down 6 IAF aircraft ‘absolutely incorrect’; tells Reuters IAF ‘flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on 10 May’.

File photo of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan | Praveen Jain | ThePrint

New Delhi: India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan Saturday admitted to fighter aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor but denied Pakistan’s claim that it downed six Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, terming it “absolutely incorrect”.

He made the comments in an interview to Bloomberg TV. Gen Chauhan was asked “whether or not Pakistan downed an Indian jet or in fact more than that”. 

“I think what is important is not jet being down but why..,” he told the media house in Singapore, where he is attending the annual Shangri-La Dialogue organised by London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Taken aback by his response, the Bloomberg TV journalist asked Gen Chauhan again if he meant IAF jets were indeed downed to which he responded saying he was talking about why “they” were downed.

“The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range,” the CDS said.

On Pakistan’s claims that it downed six IAF jets, he said, “Absolutely incorrect. That is not the information which I said is important. What is important is why they were down. That is more important for us. And what did we do after that. That is more important.”

There was no immediate response on the total number or types of aircraft India lost during Operation Sindoor, besides the “tactical mistake” the CDS referred to in his response.

In a separate interview to Reuters on camera, Gen Chauhan said, “What I can say is that on the 7th [May], in the initial stages, there were losses but numbers, that is not important. What was important is why these losses occur and what we will do after that.

“We rectified tactics and then went back on 7th, 8th and 10th, and on 10th in large numbers to hit airbases deep inside Pakistan. Penetrated all their air defence with impunity and carried out precision strikes.”

He added that the IAF “flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th”.

Gen Chauhan’s also underlined that both India and Pakistan ‘displayed rationality’ during the conflict. He told the news agency, “During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else’s part?”

While India has not outrightly denied the loss of IAF assets, it is yet to confirm exact details.

Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, Director General, Air Operations, had in a press conference on 11 May said “losses are part of combat”. He was responding to a query on Pakistan’s claim of having shot down IAF aircraft.

However, he emphasised that all IAF pilots were back home which meant that while India may have lost aircraft, pilots ejected safely. “We are in a combat scenario. Losses are a part of combat. The question to be asked is, have we achieved our objectives of decimating the terrorist camps? The answer is a thumping yes,” he said.

He added, “At this time I would not like to comment on the numbers, which platforms did we lose? We are still in a combat situation. If I comment, it will be advantageous to the adversary. All our pilots are back home.”

Asked about unverified reports that IAF shot down Pakistani aircraft, he had said, “Their planes were prevented from entering inside our border…Definitely, we have downed a few planes…definitely, there are losses on their side which we have inflicted.”

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)