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Navy officer's remarks on IAF losses in Operation Sindoor 'taken out of context', says Indian embassy
The embassy noted that the Navy Captain's remarks on Indian Air Force's losses during Operation Sindoor were "taken out of context" and "misrepresented."
The Indian Embassy in Indonesia on Sunday issued a clarification, saying remarks made by its defence attaché regarding IAF losses during Operation Sindoor were blown out of proportion.
In a statement issued on X, the embassy noted that Navy Captain Shiv Kumar's remarks on Operation Sindoor were "taken out of context" and "misrepresented."
"We have seen media reports regarding a presentation made by the Defence Attache at a Seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context and the media reports are a mis-representation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker," said the embassy.
"The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood. It was also explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure and the Indian response was non-escalatory," the statement added further.
What did the defence attaché say?
During a presentation on June 10, India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar stated that the Indian Air Force lost "some aircraft" after it struck terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor.
Captain Kumar further stated that the Indian forces had also been directed to not hit Pakistani infrastructure or air defences in the first strike.
“Only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defences,” he said, while explaining the reason why the IAF suffered lost fighter jets.
The Captain further added that after this loss, the armed forces changed their tactics.
"We went for the military installations... we first achieved suppression of enemy air defences and then... all our attacks could easily go through using BrahMos missiles," he said.
After the remarks went public, opposition party Congress accused the BJP-led government of "misleading" the nation.
“Why is the PM refusing to preside over an all-party meeting and take the Opposition into confidence? Why has the demand for a special session of Parliament been rejected?" said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Senior leader Pawan Khera also took to X and stated the defence attache's remarks were a "direct indictment."
"They know they’ve compromised national security, and they’re terrified of what the Congress Party will expose before the people of India," said Khera.
