The Indian military has acknowledged the loss of fighter jets in its recent standoff with Pakistan for the first time, reported Bloomberg on Saturday (May 31).
Anil Chauhan, chief of defence staff of the Indian Armed Forces, told Bloomberg that it was important for India to ascertain why the jets were downed. He also dismissed Pakistan's claim of downing six Indian jets as "absolutely incorrect".
“What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,” Chauhan said, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“Why they were down, what mistakes were made — that are important,” Chauhan said when asked about the fighter jets. “Numbers are not important,” he added.
“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,” Chauhan said.
(More to follow)