Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan has publicly acknowledged that India lost fighter aircraft during the May 8 dogfight with the Pakistan Air Force, part of Operation Sindoor.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore, Chauhan confirmed the losses when asked if India had jets downed. “Yeah,” he replied, saying that the focus should not be on what was downed, but why it happened.
“So 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 explained.
He rejected Pakistan’s claims of downing six Indian jets as “absolutely incorrect” and stressed that what mattered more was India’s internal assessment and corrective actions.
The remarks have sparked political calls for accountability. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted a clip of the interview on X (formerly Twitter) and asked whether the Modi government would set up a review committee similar to the Kargil Review Committee formed by the Vajpayee government in 1999. That committee, led by K. Subrahmanyam, submitted its detailed report five months after the Kargil War, offering critical military and strategic lessons.
“Will the Modi Govt now take a similar step in light of what the Chief of Defence Staff has just revealed in Singapore?” Ramesh posted.
The Ministry of Defence has not yet issued an official statement on Chauhan’s comments.
