India’s military has admitted, for the first time, that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in its clashes with Pakistan earlier this month.
Anil Chauhan, chief of defence staff of the Indian Armed Forces, confirmed this during an interview with Bloomberg TV at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
Chauhan said: “What is important is that not the jet being down, but why they were being down.” He added: “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.”
Chauhan’s remarks represent the first direct confirmation from an Indian official regarding the fate of its fighter jets during the conflict with Pakistan, which erupted on May 7.
Earlier this month, in response to India’s unprovoked attacks on innocent civilians in Pakistan, the Pakistan Air Force downed six Indian jets including three French-made Rafale fighter jets.
India’s government had previously declined to comment on whether it lost aircraft in the fighting.
