'In 80-90 hours, India inflicted so much damage…': IAF chief on why Pakistan called for 'ceasefire'
Calling the India-Pak conflict a "high-tech" war, the Chief of Air Staff said that India shot down five Pakistani jets during Operation Sindoor.
Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh on Saturday said that in just 80-90 hours of war, India inflicted so much damage to Pakistan's air defence system that it was clear that any continuation of the conflict would cost Islamabad even more.

Calling the India-Pak conflict a "high-tech" war, the Chief of Air Staff said that India shot down five Pakistani jets during Operation Sindoor.
"I can say that it was more of a high-tech war which was fought. In 80 to 90 hours of war, we were able to achieve so much of damage to air system that it was clear to them that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more," the Air Chief Marshal said. The Air Chief was speaking at an event at the HAL Management Academy in Bengaluru.
Also Read: IAF's S-400 shot down 5 Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor: Air chief marshal AP Singh
"So they came forward and sent a message to our DGMO that they wanted to talk. This was accepted on our side. The decision was taken at the highest level," he added.
While speaking on the Operation Sindoor, he said that a key reason behind the success of the operation 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,” Singh said.
“Our attacks were calibrated because we wanted to be mature about it... There was a synchronisation between the three forces... The post of CDS made a real difference. He was there to get us together... NSA also played a big role in getting all the agencies,” he added.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said that the Indian Armed Forces destroyed at least five Pakistani fighter aircraft and one large aircraft during Operation Sindoor, which India carried out targetting terror sites in Pakistan and PoK following Pahalgam terror attack.
Also Read: Balakot ‘ghost’ laid to rest with Operation Sindoor: IAF chief AP Singh
"We have at least five fighters 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. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about," he said.
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