Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday credited Operation Sindoor’s success to the “presence of political will”, noting that armed forces faced no restrictions and that constraints, if there were any, were self made.
His remarks stand in sharp contrast to claims made by Indian defence attache in Indonesia, who had suggested that Indian Air Force lost fighter jets during Operation Sindoor due to political constraints.
Speaking at an event in Bengaluru, Singh said, “A key reason for success was the presence of political will. There were very clear directions given to us. No restrictions were put on us… If there were any constraints, they were self-made… We decided how much to escalate… We had full freedom to plan and execute. Our attacks were calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it.”
He also hailed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chouhan, saying the CDS ensured all the three forces – Army, Navy and Air Force – worked in a synchronisation during the operation.
“There was a synchronisation between the three forces… The post of CDS made a real difference. He was there to get us together, he said, adding, “NSA (Ajit Doval) also played a big role in getting all the agencies.”
The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief backed the government decision to agree to a ceasefire with Pakistan.
“People got down to their egos in this war… Once we achieved our objective, we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop… Some people very close to me said, ‘Aur maarna tha’. But can we continue to be at war?… The nation has taken a good decision,” he said.
India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets
The Air Chief Marshal also revealed India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during the 4-day conflict in May early this year following India’s launch of Operation Sindoor.
“…We have five confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW &C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres.”
According to the Air Chief Marshal, this was the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill.
He further stated that Indian strikes also destroyed an F16 hanger at Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield of Pakistan.
“I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there…We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance there,” Singh added.