NEW DELHI: India downed five Pakistani fighter jets of the F-16 and JF-17 class during the intense fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May, Indian Air Force Chief Amar Preet Singh claimed on Friday.
Although Singh had previously claimed that five Pakistani fighter jets and another military aircraft were allegedly shot down during the conflict, this is the first time New Delhi has mentioned the class of jets in public.
“As far as air defence part is concerned, we have evidence of one long range strike...along with that five fighters, high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class, our system tells us,” Singh told reporters at the Indian Air Force annual day press conference. The F-16 is a US-made fighter jet while the JF-17 is of Chinese origin. Pakistan’s military did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Pakistan has said it shot down six Indian fighter jets during the conflict, including the French-made Rafale. India has acknowledged some losses but denied losing six aircraft.
On Friday, Singh declined to respond to questions on Pakistan’s assertion of downing Indian jets.
Both sides used fighter jets, missiles, artillery and drones during the four-day conflict, killing dozens of people, before agreeing to a ceasefire. Islamabad denied involvement in the occupied Kashmir attack.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry had questioned the credibility of India’s account of the events, saying it was “replete with fabrications”. India has also kept in abeyance a key water-sharing treaty - a move Pakistan termed an “act of war”. On August 9, Pakistan rejected IAF claim of downing Pakistani jets, statement, accusing India of dishonesty and saying it had not hit or destroyed a single Pakistani aircraft.
“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,” Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had said in a social media post. “Such comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment.”