New Delhi: Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has categorically denied claims that the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost multiple Rafale jets during Operation Sindoor and dismissed suggestions that political directives hampered military action during the conflict.
In an interview aired Monday by CNBC-TV18, Singh also said that while China may have supported Pakistan through intelligence sharing, there is “no conclusive proof” to confirm this.
When asked about the IAF’s losses in light of earlier remarks on them and the interviewer’s own reference to “instances about Rafale fighters being lost,” the defence secretary clarified, “Of course, I’m not going to talk about individual platforms and you use Rafales in the plural… I can assure you that that’s absolutely not correct.”
“What happened in this conflict was that they (Pakistan) lost both in human terms and in material terms significantly, many fold more than us. They also lost a hundred-plus terrorists, who are also their assets. So I can only assure you, take it from me, that in terms of material losses, in terms of asset losses, and in terms of terrorists killed, they’ve lost many times more than what we have.”
He added, “And I think it is absurd to also link it with other things like political constraints. There are no political constraints when it comes to our services. They have full freedom in operational terms when it comes to conflicts of any kind.”
His remarks follow contrasting comments made last month by Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s Defence Attaché to Indonesia. At a seminar organised last month, Capt. Kumar had said that the IAF had “some” losses during the early hours of 7 May, which he attributed to political directives limiting strikes to terror camps.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Anil Chauhan had, also acknowledged IAF losses during an interview in Singapore on 31 May, telling Bloomberg that while the air force did suffer losses during Op Sindoor, Pakistan’s claim of downing six Indian jets was “absolutely incorrect.”
Asked about Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen .Rahul.R.Singh’s remarks that China actively supported Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the Defence Secretary said there was “no conclusive proof” but did not rule out intelligence cooperation.
“I wouldn’t be able to say exactly what. I mean, I think there is an inference that some intelligence sharing, some satellite imagery sharing was going on, given some of the conversations that the DGMOs had with each other,” Singh said. “So yes, I mean, it’s more of an inference. There’s no conclusive proof one way or the other.”
“If our Deputy Chief has made such a statement, I would imagine it is based on some combination of intelligence and deduction from that intelligence. But it’s not a secret really. There is a collusive sort of– an element of collusivity is built into this relationship between the two adversaries.”
Lt. Gen. Singh had said that while Pakistan was the “front face” during the operation, China had extended “all possible support.”
Incidentally, the CDS had also said on 31 May that while Pakistan may have accessed Chinese commercial satellite imagery during the conflict, there was no evidence of real-time targeting assistance.
However, in a podcast aired around two weeks ago, the defence secretary had remarked that, “trust with China remains low”, emphasising that, “India must stay militarily prepared for any misadventure.”
AMCA progress, US defence ties & spending plans
Commenting on reports of Pakistan potentially acquiring Chinese fifth-generation fighters and India exploring platforms like the Russian Su-57E and American F-35, Singh said that discussions with global partners on fifth-generation aircraft were ongoing.
“We are talking to our partners on the 5th generation fighter aircraft programme. As of now, those discussions have not reached a stage where we can start sharing this with the media… These are sensitive negotiations,” he said.
“When it reaches some kind of a tangible stage, whether it is through an AON (Acceptance of Necessity) or through an RFP (Request for Proposal) or ultimately through a contract, that is when the media will come to know.”
On the indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project, Singh said the process had moved into early procurement stages. “EOI (Expression of Interest) and the RFI (Request for Information) has been issued by ADA or Aeronautical Development Agency and I think they’ve had some preliminary rounds of discussions with prospective bidders,” he said.
“I would imagine it’ll take something between three to six months to, you know, reach the contract award stage. Thereafter, the project itself of development and of AMCA prototypes, you know, actually taking to the skies, it should be about a 10-year programme.”
Discussing India’s defence ties with America, Singh confirmed that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged delays in key defence projects during his conversation with the US. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
ThePrint had reported that the defence minister had during his telephonic conversation with Hegseth, urged the US to expedite delivery of the GE F404 engines for the Tejas Mk1A fighter which has been delayed by over two years.
“The Raksha Mantri took up all of those delays, including engine delays, particularly of the 404 and also the need to finalise the 414 agreement, covering technology transfer and commercial terms, at the earliest. We also raised the issue of the Apache delivery delays, which are now close to resolution. We’re expecting at least three this month,” Singh said.
He also confirmed that deliveries of GE F404 engines, critical for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) production, were progressing as planned. “One engine was delivered in April, another is expected this month, and GE has committed to delivering two engines per month until March.”
This delivery schedule, he added, had allowed the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to commit to handing over 12 Tejas aircraft by the end of this financial year. “We hope this stabilises the LCA production line, but let’s see how it goes.”
He further mentioned that pricing negotiations for additional P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft were still ongoing. “Depending on that, we’ll see whether we proceed further on that.”
India inducted its first P-8I in 2013 after signing a $2.1 billion deal with the US in 2009 for eight aircraft. A follow-on order for four more was placed in 2016, with the final aircraft delivered in 2021.
Singh also confirmed that Operation Sindoor was discussed during the recent telephonic conversation between the defence minister and the US Secretary of Defense.
He also pointed out that India is currently pursuing emergency procurement of Javelin anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) from the US, even as longer-term negotiations continue.
Regarding the Stryker armoured combat vehicle, Singh said the variant fielded by the U.S. during earlier trials did not meet India’s operational requirements. “We had asked for an amphibious variant. I believe that will be showcased in the next joint exercise.”
Both countries are working to finalise a 10-year defence partnership agreement, which is expected to be signed during the next in-person meeting between the two defence ministers.
A joint statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the Modi-Trump meeting in February had said that under the upcoming ‘US-India Major Defense Partnership’ framework, the two countries would focus not just on procurement but also co-production of systems like the Javelin ATGM and the Stryker armoured vehicles.
While discussing India’s long-term defence spending plans, Singh said the government aims to raise expenditure from 1.9 percent of GDP to 2.5 percent over time “We are going to be seeking an additional allocation in the five-year cycle of the 16th Finance Commission.”
He added that budget utilisation, rather than allocation, had often been the bigger challenge.
“On the capex side, there has never been a constraint actually. The real issue has been our ability to fully utilise the budget. We managed to do that last year and we’re on track to meet our quarterly expenditure targets. If our pace is such that we need additional allocation at the RE (Revised Estimate) stage, we’ll think about it. As of now, it’s a little early to say,” he added.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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