Senior Research Fellow at the Charhar Institute, Prof. Cheng Xizhong, on Sunday, termed Indian Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh’s claim that India had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one large aircraft during the conflict in early May “self-amusement.”

 

In a statement, Xizhong said, “The remarks by the Indian air chief marshal are comical, implausible, and unconvincing. We may call it self-amusement."

 

Cheng stated New Delhi’s allegations lacked strong evidence and have been “widely questioned by the international community, being considered groundless." 

 

“It is thus evident that no Pakistani fighter jet was hit or destroyed by the Indian side. On the contrary, the Pakistani side shot down six Indian fighter jets and destroyed S-400 air defence positions, among other achievements, which is an indisputable fact,” he added.

 

Speaking at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday, the Indian air chief marshal had claimed: “We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,” adding that the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 kilometres.

 

He alleged that India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system was responsible for downing most of the Pakistani aircraft, citing electronic tracking data as evidence of the strikes.

 

Without detailing the type of fighter jets that were downed, he claimed that airstrikes also hit an additional surveillance plane and “a few F-16” fighters that were parked in hangars at two air bases in Sindh and Punjab. “This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” he added.

 

Singh's remarks came three months after the neighbouring countries' severe military conflict in May. The statement raises eyebrows about the timing, and he did not present any evidence, such as photos of the fighter jet's wreckage and radar monitoring data.

 

Pakistan said it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat on the night of May 6-7, later stating that the figure had climbed up to six. India’s highest-ranking General has also acknowledged that its forces “suffered losses” in the air, and their air force was grounded for two days; however, he denied losing six aircraft.