Rush Hour: Centre denies that India lost Rafale ‘jets’, Trump warns BRICS of tariff hikes and more

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It is incorrect to say that multiple Rafale jets of the Indian Air Force were shot down by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Defence Secretary RK Singh has said. During an interview to CNBC-TV18, Singh refused to answer a question regarding the losses the Air Force suffered during the initial phase of the four-day conflict.

“You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct,” Singh told CNBC-TV18. “Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists,” said the defence secretary. He reiterated that the government had given the Indian military operational freedom during the conflict.

This came following a remark by Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, on June 10 that the Indian Air Force had lost fighter jets to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor on May 7 because of the “constraint given by the political leadership”. Read on.

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