CDS Anil Chauhan Confirms Loss of Fighter Jets in May Conflict with Pakistan – Bloomberg
CDS Anil Chauhan: First Official Acknowledgment from India !
CDS Anil Chauhan News
CDS Anil Chauhan has confirmed for the first time that it lost some fighter jets during India’s recent conflict with Pakistan, marking the most direct statement yet from a senior Indian official on the matter. The clashes began on May 7, following an attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22 that left 26 civilians dead. India blamed Pakistan for orchestrating the attack, a claim Pakistan denies.
Focus on Tactical Lessons, Not Numbers
Chief of Defense Staff General Anil Chauhan, speaking to Bloomberg TV at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, said the number of jets lost was not the most important issue.
“What matters is not how many jets went down, but why they went down,” he said, stressing the need to understand and correct tactical errors.
Chauhan rejected Pakistan’s claim of shooting down six Indian jets, calling it “absolutely incorrect,” but declined to provide specific figures on Indian losses.
Rapid Recovery and Counter-Operations
Despite the losses, Chauhan highlighted how Indian forces quickly recovered:
“We were able to understand the mistake, fix it, and resume operations within two days,” he said.
Indian aircraft then carried out long-range precision strikes on heavily defended Pakistani airfields, as deep as 300 kilometers inside Pakistan, with accuracy within a meter.
Tensions Below the Nuclear Threshold
The conflict, the most intense between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in 50 years, involved air, drone, missile, artillery, and small arms exchanges. However, Chauhan dismissed claims that the situation approached nuclear war.
He called former U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim—that American intervention helped avoid nuclear escalation—“far-fetched.”
“There’s a lot of space between conventional warfare and the nuclear threshold,” Chauhan said, emphasizing that communication channels with Pakistan remained open throughout.
China’s Support to Pakistan Questioned
Chauhan also addressed reports that China provided Pakistan with military support, including air defense systems and satellite surveillance. He downplayed the effectiveness of those systems, saying they “didn’t work” as intended.
Diplomatic Efforts and Future Outlook
Both India and Pakistan have launched diplomatic campaigns in global capitals to influence international perception. Chauhan stated that the current ceasefire is holding but warned that it depends on Pakistan’s actions going forward.
“We’ve drawn clear red lines,” he concluded.
What is Operation Sindoor ?
Pakistan was shaken by India’s Operation Sindoor
On 22 April, terrorists in a cowardly act killed Hindus one by one in Pahalgam and told the women to go and tell this to Modi. After which, when the Indian Army destroyed 9 terrorist hideouts in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor and killed more than 100 terrorists, Pakistan panicked. Pakistan dared to target civilian hideouts in India, which was foiled by the Indian defense system in time. And in India’s retaliatory action, many airbases and military hideouts of Pakistan were reduced to ashes. In such a situation, seeing its own destruction, Pakistan’s DGMO called India’s DGMO and appealed for a ceasefire. After which India implemented a conditional ceasefire and a clear message was given to Pakistan that if any terrorist incident occurs in India now, it will be considered a war and India will give a decisive reply.
