US President Donald Trump has once again stirred debate over the May hostilities between India and Pakistan by asserting that “five jets were shot down” during the four-day military escalation that followed the Pahalgam terror attack.
Speaking at a closed-door dinner with Republican lawmakers at the White House, Trump referred to the events of early May when tensions flared between the nuclear-armed neighbours. “In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” Trump remarked.
While he did not clarify which country suffered the aircraft losses, the comment has drawn renewed attention to Operation Sindoor, India’s coordinated retaliatory operation launched on May 7 following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians, including tourists.
Pakistan has claimed that it brought down multiple Indian jets, including three Rafale fighters, and had captured Indian pilots. However, no verifiable evidence has been provided to support those assertions.
India, for its part, has largely refrained from disclosing details of its losses. Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May, confirmed that the Indian Air Force did lose aircraft but dismissed Pakistan’s claims. “What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down. Numbers are not important,” he said.
Also read: Political restrictions caused jet losses in Op Sindoor: Official
Chauhan emphasised that India responded with effective long-range strikes, saying, “We were able to do precision strikes on heavily air-defended airfields of Pakistan deep 300 kilometres inside, with the precision of a metre.”
Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of the Rafale, has also rejected Islamabad’s claims. “What Pakistan is claiming about downing three Rafales is simply not true,” said Dassault CEO Eric Trappier. “When the complete details are known, the reality may surprise many.”
Trump has continued to frame the May ceasefire between India and Pakistan as a diplomatic success led by his administration. “We stopped a lot of wars. These are two serious nuclear countries… and we got it solved through trade. We said, you guys want to make a trade deal. We're not making a trade deal if you're going to be throwing around weapons,” he said.
Indian officials, however, have consistently denied that the ceasefire was brokered by a third party. New Delhi maintains that the de-escalation was managed bilaterally, without foreign intervention. Officials have also rejected the notion that trade talks were linked to peace efforts.
Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, involved coordinated action by the Air Force, Navy and Army targeting “terrorist infrastructure and military assets” across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It concluded on May 10 with a mutually observed ceasefire.
On May 11, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti stated that “all Indian pilots had returned safely,” further dismissing Pakistan’s assertions of captured personnel.
Follow us
