India has finally admitted its jets were downed by Pakistan, but stays silent on the exact number for face saving and to avoid global humiliation.
India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan’s vague confession confirmed Pakistan’s air dominance during the conflict, but the admission reflects India’s struggle to manage post-conflict embarrassment.
The admission has drawn renewed attention to the scale and intensity of the recent military engagement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, further highlighting India’s attempts to downplay its operational losses.
It is pertinent to mention that American and French officials also confirmed that Pakistan shot down an Indian jet using fighter aircraft it acquired from China, CNN and Reuters reported earlier in the month. CNN cited a senior US official saying, as per their assessment, Pakistani forces shot down the jet during India’s air strikes inside Pakistan.
A high-ranking French intelligence official also told CNN that one Rafale fighter jet operated by the Indian Air Force was downed by Pakistan.
Earlier in the month, American newspaper The Washington Post also verified visual evidence that at least two French-made Indian fighter aircraft were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy also admitted in a recent media interview that Pakistan shot down five Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft, during the May military confrontation.
Rafales and Mirages were downed, but Modi govt refuses to come clean on numbers as New Delhi tries to soften the blow of Rafale, Su-30, Mirage, & MiG losses. India’s silence on exact figures of downed jets exposes a deliberate cover-up of the aerial debacle. However, the damage to Indian military credibility has already been done as truth about fighter jets losses leaks out in fragments.
