In a startling revelation, an Indian defence official has reportedly admitted that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) shot down six Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets during a recent flare-up, attributing the loss to strict political restraints imposed by New Delhi, according to Indian media outlet The Wire.
The clash reportedly occurred on the night of May 7, after India launched missile strikes on six Pakistani locations, including Sialkot, Bahawalpur, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, in response to a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, occupied Kashmir, for which India blamed Pakistan — an accusation Islamabad strongly denied.
The PAF confirmed the downing of six Indian jets, including three French-made Dassault Rafales, during the engagement. The claim was later echoed, albeit with some reservation, by Indian Navy Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, during a seminar held last month.
Captain Kumar stated that the IAF was operating under strict orders from the Modi government not to target Pakistani military bases or air defence systems, a decision allegedly taken to avoid escalation in a nuclear-armed region. “After the loss, we changed our tactics,” he said, noting that India later targeted Pakistani military installations using BrahMos missiles in follow-up strikes on May 9 and 10.
According to Kumar, the IAF’s hands were tied due to these self-imposed limitations, while Pakistan imposed no such restrictions, giving its air force a tactical edge. “The political directions meant that IAF had to carry out missions while deliberately avoiding the most threatening enemy assets,” The Wire quoted him as saying.
Following public reaction to the report, the Indian Embassy in Jakarta issued a clarification, claiming that Captain Kumar’s remarks were taken out of context. The embassy asserted the intent of the presentation was to highlight that the Indian Armed Forces operate under civilian leadership, unlike some neighboring countries.
The presentation, the embassy added, was meant to underline that Operation Sindoor was aimed at targeting terrorist infrastructure, not escalating military conflict.
The acknowledgment — even if disputed — has stirred diplomatic conversations and reignited debate over the handling of military operations and the realities of aerial losses in the South Asian region.
