NEW DELHI: India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan has publicly acknowledged the loss of an Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jet during Operation Sindoor, marking the first time India’s top military leadership has confirmed such a loss in the mission against Pakistan.

While refraining from disclosing exact figures, Gen. Chauhan emphasized that Indian forces executed precise strikes deep into Pakistani territory, which, according to New Delhi, compelled Islamabad to call for a cessation of hostilities, Indian media reports said.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Gen. Chauhan responded to questions about the downing of Indian aircraft by Pakistan.

“It’s not about a jet being downed, but about understanding why it happened. Identifying and correcting those tactical errors was more important,” he said.

He further explained that after learning from the setback, Indian forces were able to rectify their tactical approach and relaunch their operations within two days, once again conducting long-range strikes successfully.

Though Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had claimed that six Indian jets, including four Rafale fighters, were downed by the Pakistan Air Force, Gen. Chauhan dismissed the claim and insisted that the figures were exaggerated and inaccurate. “The numbers don’t matter,” he said, denying the Pakistani version outright.

His remarks represent the Indian military’s first direct admission of any losses during the four-day conflict. Earlier, on May 11, Air Marshal AK Bharti, Director General of Air Operations, had noted that “losses are part of combat,” but stressed that all IAF pilots had returned safely.

Operation Sindoor was a joint military campaign by the Indian Air Force and Indian Army aimed at eliminating terrorist infrastructure inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In the same interview, Gen. Chauhan also responded to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims that Washington had prevented a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, calling the statement “far-fetched.”

“I believe there is considerable space between conventional military operations and the nuclear threshold,” Chauhan said, asserting that the military acts as a rational force and escalation to a nuclear conflict in an undeclared war context is not a logical step.

He also highlighted that communication channels with Pakistan remained open throughout the standoff to manage tensions. “There are several intermediate steps that can be explored to resolve issues without escalating to nuclear conflict,” he added.