New Delhi, Aug 10 After Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh revealed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a high-value surveillance aircraft during Operation Sindoor, BJP leaders have strongly defended the armed forces while criticising opposition voices demanding evidence.
Reacting to the statement, BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal said, "Those who question the bravery of our armed forces and demand proof must understand the truth: the way our weapons suppressed their missiles is no small feat. However, some people in the country refuse to acknowledge this success and always demand evidence."
Echoing similar sentiments, BJP MP Yogendra Chandoliya asserted, "When our Air Chief Marshal Amarjeet Singh states that we have shot down five fighter jets and one large aircraft, it was necessary to say this because Congress and opposition parties are casting doubts on Operation Sindoor."
The comments follow a major disclosure by Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh at the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru, where he publicly confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) shot down six Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor, including five fighter jets and a high-value surveillance platform, likely an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft.
"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 km. This is, actually, the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about," Singh stated.
"These are the before and after images of the damage we caused at Bahawalpur, the JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) headquarters. There's hardly any collateral here -- the adjacent buildings are fairly intact," he said, pointing to high-resolution visuals that corroborated the precision of the strikes.
Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, was India's calibrated response to the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives in April.
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