India again admits jet losses in Pakistan clash, citing political limits

Indian official blames IAF jet losses on New Delhi’s orders to avoid striking Pakistani military targets during clash

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An Indian defence official has admitted that the country's air force did "lose some aircraft" on the night of May 7 when they launched an unprovoked attack on civilian sites in Pakistan during the recent 86-hour war between the two nuclear powers.

Captain Shiv Kumar, an Indian defence attache, made the statement while speaking at a seminar, 'Analysis of the Pakistan–India Air Battle and Indonesia’s Anticipatory Strategies from the Perspective of Air Power’ organised by Universitas Dirgantara Marsekal Suryadarma in Indonesia, reported Indian media.

'IAF Lost Fighter Jets to Pak Because of Political Leadership’s Constraints’: Indian Defence Attachehttps://t.co/ADjPZWN35x

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Kumar blamed the losses suffered by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the constraints imposed by the political leadership in New Delhi. He claimed that the Indian aircraft were under orders not to attack Pakistan military assets, to avoid an escalation.

Earlier, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan confirmed the loss fighter jets during the May clashes with Pakistan, marking the first official acknowledgment of air losses in the ongoing conflict. He disclosed the information in an interview with Bloomberg Television, during the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

However, he denied Pakistan’s tally of six Indian jets being shot down, choosing not to specify the exact number of aircraft lost. "What is important is not the jet being down, but why they were being down," Chauhan said. "Numbers are not important."

On May 30, Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy admitted that Pakistan downed five Indian fighter jets, including Rafale aircraft. However, the military circles of India are always tight-lipped about the numbers of fighter jets loss by PAF.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down at least six Indian fighter jets, including three French-built Rafales, which the Narendra Modi-led government bought to give the IAF a perceived qualitative edge over the PAF.