Defence Secretary RK Singh on Monday rejected claims that India’s Rafale fighter jets were shot down by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. He said such reports were not accurate and did not reflect the actual events.
While responding to a question about the losses on India’s side, Singh declined to provide specific details. However, he stressed that Pakistan’s losses during the operation were significantly higher than India’s, both in terms of manpower and equipment. He also mentioned that over 100 terrorists were neutralised during the mission.
“You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct. Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNBC-TV18.
Singh further clarified that the Indian armed forces is not restricted by political interference during combat. He said that the military has complete freedom to carry out operations as needed in times of conflict.
The Rafale Controversy
The controversy surrounding Rafale began after an Indian defence officer in Indonesia said that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets in the early part of Operation Sindoor because it was told not to attack the Pakistani military. Instead, it was only allowed to target terrorist camps.
A video of the remarks made by Captain Shiv Kumar on June 10 at an event came out on June 29. In the video, the Indian defence attache said that there were some “constraints” because of the orders given by the “political leadership”, which is why the Air Force did not strike Pakistani military bases at the beginning of the operation.
India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 this year, specifically targeting terrorist camps in Pakistan. The Operation was in response to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack where terrorists gunned down 26 tourists.