ISLAMABAD: Indian experts are struggling to accept claims made by Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh that the Indian Air Force shot down 12 or 13 Pakistani aircraft, including 9 or 10 fighters such as F-16s and JF-17s.
“I find the air force chief’s claim very hard to accept,” said leading Indian defense analyst and former military officer Pravin Sawhney in a video interview with The Wire on Monday. He explained that a Russian S-400 specialist informed him that, although the system could engage multiple targets, it could not definitively confirm whether the fighter jets had been downed.
The Indian chief claimed that the S-400 system indicated multiple jets were destroyed. However, Pravin argued that this assertion is, at best, an assumption without substantial evidence. In contrast, Pakistan has provided significant evidence of downing French Rafale jets used by the Indian Air Force.
Pravin acknowledged a press conference on September 16 by retired Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, the former director general of the Strategic Plans Division, which oversees Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Kidwai shared the actual tail numbers of the destroyed Indian fighter jets, and Pravin noted that India's lack of reaction could lead many observers to treat those details as legitimate.
Pravin questioned why “ground kill” details emerged almost five months after the operations effectively ended and why the Indian Air Force chief “refuses to talk about the losses of the Indian Air Force” while emphasizing alleged Pakistani losses.
Further discrediting India's claims of downing Pakistan’s F-16s, Pravin stated, “If F-16s had been shot down, either in the air or on the ground, the Americans would have known about it” due to their monitoring agreement with Pakistan.
“The key mission of any air force is to acquire air supremacy, and that was achieved only by the Pakistan Air Force. To my knowledge, the Indian Air Force has not engaged in any air-to-air combat,” he added. This observation led to the conclusion that the Pakistan Air Force chief was promptly invited to Washington to explain their multi-domain operations.
International media outlets, including Reuters, have noted inconsistencies in India’s own briefings. For example, on October 3, Reuters reported the IAF chief stating that five Pakistani fighters were downed in May, not 12–13.
Since the conflict, the Indian military and political leadership have engaged in overt jingoism. The Indian Air Chief, Army Chief, and Prime Minister have repeatedly made sweeping statements about IAF dominance and Pakistan’s defeat, appearing aimed more at domestic audiences than at providing serious military transparency.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s military has hardened its stance, with the Inter-Services Public Relations warning that any future conflict would be met with a “swift, decisive, and destructive” response.
Pakistan’s commanders and political leaders continue to state that the PAF successfully defended its airspace and that India's narrative is unraveling under scrutiny, especially as Indian experts publicly question the logic behind IAF claims.
Despite India's assertions, global analysts and media have lent credence to Pakistan’s demonstrable performance in air-to-air engagements.
