IAF chief must have claimed of downing Pakistan's aircraft under pressure: defence analyst

Business Recorder

2 days ago

Indian Air Force chief's claim of downing Pakistan's military aircraft after three months is such an absurd and illogical idea that it must have been stated under pressure from political leadership, Senior Defence Analyst Brigadier (retd) Waqar Hassan Khan said on Saturday.
The defence analyst made this remark, responding to IAF chief's claim that India destroyed six Pakistani aircraft during the May dogfight.
The Indian ruling political party, BJP, has come under intense pressure from the opposition amid praise lavished by international defence analysts and military leadership on Pakistan Air Force's brilliance in the dogfight with India.
India confirms Pakistan downed 'unspecified number' of fighter jets
India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May, India's air force chief claimed on Saturday, the first such statement by the country months after its worst military conflict in decades with its nuclear-armed neighbour.
Indian Air Chief Marshal AP Singh claimed most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India's Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system.
Brig (retd) Waqar said satellites and other technologies are so advanced these days that this air combat was witnessed by China, Turkiye, the US and other countries as well and they had clear idea about formation of aircrafts and missiles hitting any target.
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'In a matter of minutes, this can be figured out how many targets have successfully been achieved through these technologies,' he said, adding it was obvious that there was something very fishy with Indian air chief's this claim.
If India had downed Pakistani fighter jet, it must have been noticed by international observers, he said.
On the other hand, Waqar said, Pakistan's destroying Indian fighter jets including Rafale was validated by foreign media as well.
Trump says he thinks 5 jets were shot down in Pakistan, India hostilities
Earlier, Pakistan said it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat. India also claimed it downed 'a few planes' of Pakistan. Islamabad denied suffering any losses of planes.
A days-long war erupted between the two nuclear-armed countries in May this year, after India launched an attack inside Pakistan, weeks after blaming Pakistan for the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) attack in April that claimed lives of 26 tourists. Without providing any evidence, India claimed that its attack targeted terrorist infrastructure. The attack came despite Pakistan's calling for a neutral investigation into the Kashmir attack.
On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border, setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery that killed dozens until the ceasefire was reached.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan that he announced on social media on May 10 after Washington held talks with both sides. India has differed with Trump's claims that it resulted from his intervention.