Did Pakistan Down Rafale Fighter Jets? China's Role In Operation Sindoor | 5 Big Points From CDS Chauhan Interview

Here are key points from CDS Chauhan interview:

1. What happened with Indian fighter jets during Operation Sindoor?

India's chief of defence staff said in an interview that India suffered initial losses in the air. "What was important is, why did these losses occur, and what we'll do after that," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, referring to the Pakistani claim of downing jets.

"So we rectified tactics and then went back on the 7th, 8th and 10th in large numbers to hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes." The Indian Air Force "flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th", he said.

India's director general of air operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, had told a press conference earlier in the month that "losses are a part of combat" and that India had downed some Pakistani jets. Air Marshall Bharti made the remarks at a media briefing on May 11 when asked about Indi'a aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor. Islamabad has denied it suffered any losses of planes but has acknowledged its air bases suffered some hits although losses were minimal.  

2. Whether six Indian fighter jets were downed by Pakistan?

General Chauhan was asked whether India lost combat jets during the four-day military clashes with Pakistan earlier this month. "The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made; remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days. We flew all our jets again targeting at long range," he said. "Absolutely incorrect," Chauhan, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, when asked about Pakistan's claim of shooting down six Indian jets during Operation Sindoor.

3. India switched tactics

India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of conflict with Pakistan earlier this month and established a decisive advantage before the neighbours announced a ceasefire three days later, India's highest-ranking general said on Saturday. The heaviest fighting in decades between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan was sparked by an April 22 attack in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists.

On May 7, Indian Armed Forces launched a powerful attack named "Operation Sindoor" in which jets bombed "terrorist infrastructure" sites across the border. Earlier, India said its missiles and drones struck at least eight Pakistani air bases across the country that day, including one near the capital Islamabad. The Pakistan military says that India did not fly its fighter jets again in the conflict after suffering losses on May 7.

4. Were there any chances of nuclear war at any point?

Some of the attacks were on bases near Pakistan's nuclear facilities, but they themselves were not targeted, media reports have said. "Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a metre, to whatever was our selected mean point of impact," Chauhan said. Chauhan, and Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, have both said there was no danger at any time during the conflict that nuclear weapons were considered. "I think there's a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened," Chauhan said. "There's a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm.

"It's my personal view that the most rational people are people in uniform when conflict takes place," he added. "During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain, there will be irrationality on someone else's part?"

5. Whether China assisted Pakistan during Operation Sindoor?

Chauhan also said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, which borders India in the north and east, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict. "While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn't find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right."

Asked whether China may have provided any satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence to Pakistan during the conflict, CDS Chauhan said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China as well as other sources. He added that while hostilities had ceased, the Indian government had made it clear it would "respond precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan." "So that has its own dynamics as far the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7."

(With inputs from Reuters)