India did lose fighter jets during the initial stages of Operation Sindoor, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan confirmed on Saturday. However, he emphasised that the Indian Air Force quickly revised its strategy and launched deeper, precision strikes into Pakistani territory in the days that followed.
“What I can say is on May 7, in the initial stages, there were losses,” Gen Chauhan told Reuters TV.
This is the first official acknowledgment from a senior Indian defence authority regarding air losses during the four-day conflict. Previously, on May 11, the director-general of air operations, Air Marshal A K Bharti, had only briefly addressed questions about the loss of some air force jets, saying simply, "all our pilots are back home," implying they ejected safely after their jets were hit by enemy fire.
‘Absolutely incorrect’: Pakistan’s jet kill claims dismissed
Gen Chauhan rejected Pakistan’s assertion that it had downed six Indian warplanes, including three Rafales. “That is absolutely incorrect,” he stated in interviews to both Reuters TV and Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Though he did not provide a number, he dismissed the focus on aircraft counts. “Numbers are not important. Why they were down, what mistakes were made — that is important,” he said.
According to the General, what followed those early losses was a sharp tactical correction. “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,” he added.
Precision strikes deep inside Pakistan
Once India adjusted its approach, the IAF launched calibrated strikes using Sukhoi-30MKIs, Rafales and Mirage-2000s. These aircraft targeted at least nine Pakistani airbases and three radar stations, including areas close to nuclear facilities, using missiles such as BrahMos, Scalp, Rampage, and Crystal Maze-2.
Pakistan, on its part, had initially retaliated with drones, missiles and artillery strikes targeting Indian military installations and even some civilian zones. However, according to Gen Chauhan, India’s counter-strikes inflicted major damage. “We were able to do strikes on heavily air-defended airfields of Pakistan deep 300 km inside, with the precision of a metre,” he said.
He also downplayed the impact of Pakistan’s air defences, including Chinese HQ-9 systems and Turkish-origin drones. “They didn’t work,” he said bluntly.
India stayed clear of nuclear red lines
Despite the heavy exchange of fire and airpower, Gen Chauhan said the situation never came close to a nuclear escalation. “In every step that happened during Operation Sindoor, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions,” he said.
“There is a lot of space between the conduct of conventional operations and the nuclear threshold,” the CDS added. He dismissed claims that either side was on the brink of deploying nuclear weapons as “far-fetched”.
He also noted that lines of communication with Pakistan remained open during the conflict, allowing for crisis management. “There are more sub-ladders on the escalation ladder which can be exploited to settle our issues,” he said.
The admission of Indian air losses led to calls for transparency. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded “a comprehensive review of our defence preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee,” and repeated the party’s call for a special session of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Gen Chauhan refused to comment on US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington had helped broker the ceasefire to prevent nuclear war. “Far-fetched,” he said of suggestions that nuclear use was ever imminent.
A tense four days, but lessons learnt
The May 7–10 clash, the worst in over 50 years between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, marked a dangerous spiral of drone, missile, and air strikes. But India’s military leadership insists lessons were learned quickly and responses recalibrated.
“People in uniform are actually the most rational,” Gen Chauhan said. His message: measured thinking and military professionalism prevailed, even amid a high-stakes, high-speed conflict.
The ceasefire, he added, was holding. But its future would depend squarely on Islamabad’s behaviour. “We have laid clear red lines,” he warned.
Operation Sindoor was seen as a retaliation to the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir on 22 April, which left 26 civilians dead. India held Pakistan responsible and responded with a multi-domain offensive named Operation Sindoor.
(With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg, TOI)
“What I can say is on May 7, in the initial stages, there were losses,” Gen Chauhan told Reuters TV.
This is the first official acknowledgment from a senior Indian defence authority regarding air losses during the four-day conflict. Previously, on May 11, the director-general of air operations, Air Marshal A K Bharti, had only briefly addressed questions about the loss of some air force jets, saying simply, "all our pilots are back home," implying they ejected safely after their jets were hit by enemy fire.
‘Absolutely incorrect’: Pakistan’s jet kill claims dismissed
Gen Chauhan rejected Pakistan’s assertion that it had downed six Indian warplanes, including three Rafales. “That is absolutely incorrect,” he stated in interviews to both Reuters TV and Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Though he did not provide a number, he dismissed the focus on aircraft counts. “Numbers are not important. Why they were down, what mistakes were made — that is important,” he said.
According to the General, what followed those early losses was a sharp tactical correction. “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,” he added.
Precision strikes deep inside Pakistan
Once India adjusted its approach, the IAF launched calibrated strikes using Sukhoi-30MKIs, Rafales and Mirage-2000s. These aircraft targeted at least nine Pakistani airbases and three radar stations, including areas close to nuclear facilities, using missiles such as BrahMos, Scalp, Rampage, and Crystal Maze-2.
Pakistan, on its part, had initially retaliated with drones, missiles and artillery strikes targeting Indian military installations and even some civilian zones. However, according to Gen Chauhan, India’s counter-strikes inflicted major damage. “We were able to do strikes on heavily air-defended airfields of Pakistan deep 300 km inside, with the precision of a metre,” he said.
He also downplayed the impact of Pakistan’s air defences, including Chinese HQ-9 systems and Turkish-origin drones. “They didn’t work,” he said bluntly.
India stayed clear of nuclear red lines
Despite the heavy exchange of fire and airpower, Gen Chauhan said the situation never came close to a nuclear escalation. “In every step that happened during Operation Sindoor, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions,” he said.
“There is a lot of space between the conduct of conventional operations and the nuclear threshold,” the CDS added. He dismissed claims that either side was on the brink of deploying nuclear weapons as “far-fetched”.
He also noted that lines of communication with Pakistan remained open during the conflict, allowing for crisis management. “There are more sub-ladders on the escalation ladder which can be exploited to settle our issues,” he said.
The admission of Indian air losses led to calls for transparency. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge demanded “a comprehensive review of our defence preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee,” and repeated the party’s call for a special session of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Gen Chauhan refused to comment on US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington had helped broker the ceasefire to prevent nuclear war. “Far-fetched,” he said of suggestions that nuclear use was ever imminent.
A tense four days, but lessons learnt
The May 7–10 clash, the worst in over 50 years between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, marked a dangerous spiral of drone, missile, and air strikes. But India’s military leadership insists lessons were learned quickly and responses recalibrated.
“People in uniform are actually the most rational,” Gen Chauhan said. His message: measured thinking and military professionalism prevailed, even amid a high-stakes, high-speed conflict.
The ceasefire, he added, was holding. But its future would depend squarely on Islamabad’s behaviour. “We have laid clear red lines,” he warned.
Operation Sindoor was seen as a retaliation to the brutal terrorist attack in Kashmir on 22 April, which left 26 civilians dead. India held Pakistan responsible and responded with a multi-domain offensive named Operation Sindoor.
(With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg, TOI)
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