NEW DELHI: The loss of an Indian Air Force fighter jet during Operation Sindoor has been acknowledged by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), India’s most senior military officer.

When asked whether Pakistan had downed an Indian jet or more during the course of Operation Sindoor, CDS General Anil Chauhan told Bloomberg TV on Saturday, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, “What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down, what mistakes were made, that are important.”

General Chauhan added, “The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range.”

While he stated, “Numbers are not important,” the CDS outrightly denied Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s claims that the Pakistan Air Force had shot down six Indian fighter jets, including four Rafale fighters, during the brief India-Pakistan clash.

Responding to the same question on 11 May 2025, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, the Director General of Air Operations, acknowledged that “losses are a part of combat,” while emphasising that all Indian Air Force pilots returned home safely.

Operation Sindoor was a joint mission conducted by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army to destroy terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.