Indian military has finally admitted it! According to a report by Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao on May 31st, at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore, Indian Chief of Defence Staff Rawat personally stated that Pakistan's claim of shooting down six Indian fighter jets is completely incorrect. However, he refused to disclose how many fighter jets India actually lost. Rawat said that what matters is not the number of fighter jets shot down, but why they were shot down, which is more important.
Rawat also mentioned that fortunately, we were able to recognize the tactical mistakes we made and correct them, repair them, and then launch another attack two days later, sending all fighter jets for a long-range strike. Clearly, although the Indian Defense Minister was evasive, this senior military official at least acknowledged two points. First, India made tactical errors. Second, India believes that the reason for being shot down is more important to India. Of course, it's not easy for such words to come from high-ranking officials in an open international setting, especially since India does not admit its setbacks domestically and even denies any aircraft being shot down. Perhaps this is because those present are all industry peers, and India knows it cannot hide it, so it admitted this in a roundabout way.
Of course, from India's perspective, this may be the best choice for the Modi government. If this is admitted domestically, the foundation of the Modi government's rule could be shaken, which is not something Modi would like to see. Internationally, admitting this at least earns India some respect. It also shows that the Modi government has a relatively clear understanding of the air battle with Pakistan. We believe that with this lesson learned, India will have further actions to enhance its air force strength.
Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833635611105739/
Disclaimer: The article only represents the author's personal views.