Defence Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Asif on Saturday (August 9) denied the claims made by Indian Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh about shooting down five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor. The claims about which side downed how many jets have been made since the end of Operation Sindoor. The question related to clarification on the same was raised in the Parliament also during recent debate session. While no answers came from the political representatives, IAF chief Singh earlier today (August 9) revealed that India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.
What did Khawaja Asif say?
Khawaja questioned the claims made by the Air Chief Marshal months after the Op Sindoor and labelled them “as implausible as they are ill-timed.” He wrote in a post on X, “For three months, no such claims were voiced – while Pakistan, in the immediate aftermath, presented detailed technical briefings to the international media….” He further wrote, “Not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed by (the) Indian (side).”
In addition, Asif mentioned that the losses on the Line of Control for the Indian armed forces were disproportionately heavier as well. He added that, “If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification—though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure.”
Aligning with his claims, he reiterated that every violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will invite “swift, surefire and proportionate response”.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh claims
During a public lecture in Bengaluru on Saturday, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said, “We have an indication of at least one AWC in that AWC hangar, and a few F-16s, which are under maintenance there. We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft, which could be either an aircraft or an AWC, which was taken at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about.”
Singh added that Operation Sindoor also resulted in a large number of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), drones and some of their (Pakistan) missiles falling into the Indian territory.
(With PTI Inputs)