Indian military chief confirms loss of fighter jets in conflict with Pakistan

Indian military chief confirms loss of fighter jets in conflict with Pakistan

The Indian army for the first time has recognized that an indefinite number of its was shot down . This happened in the middle of intensive fights between the two neighbors in early May. Previously, Indian officials had denied any confirmation of a loss of an aircraft.

Indian military leadership reacts to allegations

When a journalist of Bloomberg asked on Saturday after confirming the Pakistani claim that "six Indian jets" was shot down, Anil Chauhan, the highest military chief of the Indian armed forces, first rejected the correctness of the claim. "This is absolutely wrong and this is not information that, as I said, is important," he said. But then he made it clear that "it is important why they crashed", which indicates that several jets were actually shot down during the fights between the two historical enemies, without confirming the exact number. "This is more important for us. And what did we do afterwards? That is the most important thing," he said in an interview with Haslinda Amin von Bloomberg at the Shangri-la dialogue, a leading defense forum in Asia, in Singapore.

tactical errors and their correction

The official also admitted that the Indian military had made a "tactical mistake". When asked about the Pakistani claims, he said: "The good thing is that we recognized the tactical mistake, cleaned it and compensate for it and then, two days later, all of our jets started again and aimed again at a long distance."

Pakistan claims further kills

Pakistan claimed that his pilots had shot five Indian fighter planes in air fighting, including three modern French rafales after India started a military campaign against Pakistan in early May. Pakistan explained that it has shot down with Chinese combat aircraft, including the Rafales that Indian fighter planes.

Indian reactions to the allegations

India rejected the claims at the beginning. Nalin Kohli, the spokesman for the Bharatiya Janata Party India, told CNN: "If so and something like that had happened, we would have said it." A high -ranking French intelligence officer informed CNN at the time that a rafale operated by the Indian Air Force had been shot down and that the French authorities examined whether more than one was shot down. Indian eyewitnesses also reported that they have an aircraft saw.

escalation of the conflicts between India and Pakistan

The fights represent a significant escalation between the South Asian neighbors and were related to the killing of tourists in the Indian -managed cashmere in April. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, which was rejected by Islamabad. A ceasefire between Islamabad and Neu-Delhi was on the 10. May announced.

CNNS Benjamin Brown, Matthew Chance, Sophia Saifi and Saskya Vandoorne contributed.