India's defence attache to Indonesia admitted that the Air Force lost "some aircraft" early on in Operation Sindoor. The remark stoked controversy back home, prompting the Indian Embassy in Jakarta to issue a sternly-worded clarification.
Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s Defence Attache to Indonesia and a senior Navy officer, disclosed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost several fighter jets during the May 7 aerial offensive against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) — a setback he attributed to political constraints that forbade the targeting of military establishments and air defences across the border.
Speaking at a seminar on June 10 titled "Analysis of the Pakistan-India Air Battle and Indonesia's Anticipatory Strategies from the Perspective of Air Power", Capt Kumar admitted, “I may not agree (with an earlier Indonesian speaker's claim) that we lost so many aircraft, but I do agree we did lose some aircraft and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack their military establishments and air defences.”
This candid admission comes in the wake of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan’s May 31 address in Singapore, where he acknowledged early losses during Operation Sindoor, though he refrained from disclosing specific figures. “What I can say is that on May 7, in the initial stages, there were losses. Numbers are not important. What was important is why did these losses occur, and what we will do after that,” the CDS had remarked.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has claimed to have downed six Indian fighter jets, including three Rafales — a claim the Indian military leadership has outrightly dismissed as "absolutely incorrect."
Capt Kumar further explained how India recalibrated its strategy post the initial setbacks. “After the loss, we changed our tactics and we went for the military installations (and radar sites). So, we first achieved suppression of enemy air defences and then that's why all our attacks could easily go through using Brahmos missiles (on May 10).”
Quoted out of context: Govt clarifies
His remarks, however, triggered a fresh political storm back home, with the Congress party seizing the opportunity to criticise the Modi government’s handling of the high-stakes operation. In response, the Indian Embassy in Indonesia swiftly issued a clarification, asserting that Capt Kumar’s remarks were "quoted out of context" and that the media had “misrepresented the intention and thrust of the presentation.”
“The presentation conveyed that the Indian armed forces serve under civilian political leadership, unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood. It was also explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure and the Indian response was non-escalatory,” the embassy posted on X.