Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan has responded to Pakistan’s claim that it shot down six Indian fighter jets during the recent military escalation between the two countries. Speaking to Bloomberg TV on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Gen Chauhan termed Islamabad’s assertion “absolutely incorrect.”
“What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,” said Gen Chauhan, while declining to reveal how many Indian jets were lost during the conflict. “Why they were down, what mistakes were made — that are important,” he added, stressing that “numbers are not important.”
Gen Chauhan noted that the Indian Armed Forces were able to assess and rectify tactical errors made during the engagement. “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,” he stated.
India’s military confirmed for the first time that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May.
Anil Chauhan, chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, spoke to Bloomberg TV on Saturday, while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in… pic.twitter.com/9y3GW6WJfn
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) May 31, 2025
Earlier this month, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed that Pakistani forces had downed six Indian warplanes. The claim has not been independently verified, and India’s government has refrained from commenting on aircraft losses.
The clash, seen as the worst between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in over 50 years, followed a brutal attack in Kashmir on April 22, where gunmen killed 26 civilians. The hostilities involved air, drone, and missile strikes, as well as artillery and small arms fire along the Line of Control.
CDS Gen Chauhan Says US Claims Of Averting Nuclear War ‘Far-Fetched’
When asked about US President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States helped avert a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, Gen Chauhan responded, “far-fetched.” He told Bloomberg News, “I personally feel that there is a lot of space between conduct of conventional operations and the nuclear threshold,” and clarified that communication channels with Pakistan “were always open” to manage the situation. He also referred to additional options on the “escalation ladder” that could be used to resolve issues without resorting to nuclear weapons.
Addressing claims about the effectiveness of weapon systems provided to Pakistan by China and other countries, Gen Chauhan said they “didn’t work.” According to a research group under the Defence Ministry, China had assisted Pakistan with air defence and satellite support during the conflict.
Highlighting India’s military capability, the CDS said, “We were able to do precision strikes on heavily air-defended airfields of Pakistan deep 300 kilometres inside, with the precision of a metre.”
He further noted that the cessation of hostilities is currently holding but warned that its continuation would depend on Pakistan’s future actions. “We have laid clear red lines,” Gen Chauhan said.
