Indian embassy clarifies after Indian Navy captain's shocking claims on fighter jet losses during Operation Sindoor

The Indian embassy in Indonesia attempted firefighting after a controversy erupted following the remarks by an Indian defence attache that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets in the initial phase of Operation Sindoor as it was limited by the mandate to not target Pakistani military establishment and eliminate only terrorist infrastructure.  

 

While the Indian security establishment has not yet come out with the number of fighter jets lost during the recent military stand-off with Pakistan despite Islamabad's unverified claims of downing more than five fighter jets, including Rafale, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan had confirmed the loss of fighter jets without specifying the number. Numbers are not important, CDS Chauhan had said earlier, in response to Pakistan's claims, adding, "What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being down."

 

While speaking at a seminar on 'Analysis of the Pakistan-India Air Battle and Indonesia's Anticipatory Strategies from the Perspective of Air Power' at a university in Jakarta, Indian Navy Captain Shiv Kumar reportedly said, “I may not agree that we lost so many aircraft, but I do agree we did lose some aircraft and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack their military establishments and air defences.”

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"After the loss, we changed our tactics and we went for the military installations (and radar sites). So, we first achieved suppression of enemy air defences and then that’s why all our attacks could easily go through using BrahMos missiles," he had added, reported news agency PTI. 

 

He is reported to have said that Indian armed forces serve under political leadership, unlike some other countries in India's neighbourhood.

 

After the remarks kicked up a political storm, with the Opposition Congress accusing the government of misleading the country, the Indian embassy said in a social media post, "His remarks have been quoted out of context and the media reports are a mis-representation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker."

 

"The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood."

 

The embassy said it was explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure and the Indian response was non-escalatory.

Defence