An Indian defence attache has claimed that the Pakistan Air Power (PAF) shot down six Indian Air Power (IAF) fighter plane “solely due to the constraint given by the political management to not assault the army institution or their air defences”, Indian information outlet The Wire reported on Sunday.
Earlier this month, the PAF confirmed that six IAF jets have been shot down late on the night time of Might 7, after India launched missiles at six Pakistani websites, together with in Sialkot and Bahawalpur, in addition to Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Three of the downed fighters have been French-made Dassault Rafales.
This army confrontation came about after New Delhi, with out proof, blamed Islamabad for backing terrorists who killed 26 vacationers in occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam in April — an allegation that Islamabad denied.
In accordance with The Wire, India’s defence attache to Indonesia, Indian Navy Captain Shiv Kumar, whereas talking at a seminar in Indonesia final month, acknowledged that the PAF downed the Indian fighters.
Throughout his presentation on the occasion, Kumar acknowledged the lack of Indian planes, although he mentioned he “could not agree [with an earlier Indonesian speaker’s claim] that we misplaced so many plane”.
“After the loss, we modified our ways and we went for the army installations. So, we first achieved suppression of enemy air defences after which that’s why all our assaults might simply undergo utilizing Brahmos missiles,” the Indian defence attache added, referring to Indian missile strikes on Pakistani bases on the night time of Might 9 and 10.
In accordance with Kumar, IAF fighter jets have been “working underneath strict political orders from the Modi authorities to not goal Pakistani army installations or air defence programs”, The Wire reported.
“This self-imposed limitation by the federal government was meant to stop escalation of battle in a nuclear setting,” the outlet added, quoting the Indian officer. “It was probably primarily based on the premise that the Pakistan army wouldn’t goal Indian fighter plane flying within the Indian airspace, when India was not hitting any Pakistani army targets.”
Kumar inferred that the restrictions imposed by New Delhi led to the lack of IAF jets since Pakistan “refused to impose any such limitations”.
“The political instructions had meant that IAF needed to perform their missions whereas intentionally avoiding probably the most threatening enemy property, that are sometimes prioritised in air campaigns to safe air superiority,” The Wire reported.
The Wire additionally reported that the Indian Embassy in Jakarta mentioned Captain Kumar’s remarks had been “taken out of context” in a press release.
“Now we have seen media studies relating to a presentation made by the defence attache at a seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context and the media studies are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker,” The Wire wrote.
“The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve underneath civilian political management, not like another nations in our neighbourhood,” the outlet continued. “It was additionally defined that the target of Operation Sindoor was to focus on terrorist infrastructure, and the Indian response was non-escalatory.”
