Islamabad 10 August: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has dismissed remarks by Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, who claimed that Indian forces had downed five Pakistani fighter jets and another military aircraft during clashes in May.
Calling the statement “implausible” and “ill-timed,” Asif said it was “ironic” that senior Indian military officers were being used as “faces of monumental failure” caused by the “strategic shortsightedness” of Indian politicians.
Earlier in the day, the IAF chief alleged that the aircraft were destroyed during Operation Sindoor, with most of the kills attributed to India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system. He termed the strike against one large aircraft at a distance of 300 km “the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” drawing applause from an audience of officers, veterans and officials.
Islamabad has consistently denied losing any aircraft during the May 7–10 hostilities, asserting instead that Pakistani forces shot down six Indian aircraft, including a Rafale, and destroyed S-400 batteries and unmanned drones. France’s air chief has previously confirmed evidence of three Indian fighter losses, including a Rafale, though New Delhi has not publicly acknowledged this.
Asif said Pakistan immediately presented technical briefings to the international media after the clashes, while India waited three months to make its claims. He urged both countries to open their aircraft inventories for independent verification, warning that such “comical narratives” risked dangerous miscalculations in a nuclear environment.
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He reaffirmed that Pakistan would respond swiftly and proportionately to any violation of its sovereignty, stressing that responsibility for escalation would rest with “strategically blind leaders who gamble with South Asia’s peace for fleeting political gains.”
