India shot down 6 Pakistani military aircraft in May fighting, air force chief says
Most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India's Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said at an event in the southern city of Bengaluru. He cited electronic tracking data as confirmation of the strikes.
'We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,' he said, adding that the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 km (186 miles).
'This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,' he said, prompting applause from the crowd that included serving air force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials.
Pakistan's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Singh did not mention the type of fighter jets that were downed.
Islamabad, whose air force primarily operates Chinese-made jets and US F-16s, has previously denied that India downed any Pakistani aircraft during the May 7-10 fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Pakistan has claimed that it shot down six Indian aircraft during the clashes, including a French-made Rafale fighter. India has acknowledged some losses but denied losing six aircraft.
France's air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has previously said that he has seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale. Indian Air Force has not commented on the claims.
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Arab News
8 hours ago
- Arab News
The great corridor conundrum
It is a truth universally acknowledged — or at least universally marketed — that the Middle East is once again poised to be the beating heart of global commerce. Enter the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, known as IMEC, a vision unveiled in September 2023 with the flourish of a G20 communique and the optimism of a startup pitch deck. India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the EU, France, Italy, Germany and the US all signed on, proclaiming IMEC not just as a trade route but as proof that geography in the 21st century can still be redrawn. The idea is seductive: a twin corridor network, one stretching from India to the Arabian Gulf, the other from the Gulf to Europe, sewn together by ports, railways and digital cables. In theory, the scheme could shave eight to 10 days off shipping times compared to the Suez route, reduce freight costs and serve as a 'values-based' counterweight to China's Belt and Road Initiative. In practice, however, bold lines on a map are the easy part; turning them into steel, concrete and functional customs regimes is where so many grand visions are lost. Early cost estimates place IMEC's price tag between $20 billion and $30 billion, a figure almost certain to rise once engineering, land acquisition and security needs are taken into account. The project began as an Indian initiative, later embraced by the EU and Saudi Arabia. Yet, unlike the Belt and Road Initiative or the International North-South Transport Corridor, India has not set up a dedicated implementing body, nor has it committed actual funding. That omission is more than a bureaucratic footnote: without clear governance and committed capital, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor risks becoming a PowerPoint concept rather than a functioning trade artery. Financing will almost certainly rely on India-EU partnerships, with Saudi Arabia and the US playing indispensable roles. Washington's stance is broadly positive, though it views IMEC through the lens of a larger strategic agenda tied to the Abraham Accords. For India, the calculus is more complex. A faster, more reliable route to Europe could boost exports, yet New Delhi's domestic infrastructure ambitions — from high-speed rail to renewable power grids — already stretch fiscal resources. Adding to the equation, President Donald Trump's recently announced 50 percent tariffs on certain Indian exports has introduced a strategic wrinkle: can a corridor partly championed by Washington truly offset the economic sting of US protectionism? The new corridor's backers frame it as a cleaner, more transparent alternative, but politics and geography are not easily tamed Dr. John Sfakianakis The IMEC plan enters a crowded field. 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Arab News
10 hours ago
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Arab News
11 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan PM, Azerbaijan president discuss enhanced connectivity after peace deal with Armenia
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