India confirms for the first time the loss of fighter jets in the conflict with Pakistan

On May 31, the Indian military confirmed for the first time that India lost fighter jets in the conflict with Pakistan in May this year, but did not disclose the specific figure. At the same time, it said that the four-day conflict was never close to the brink of nuclear war. "What matters is not that the plane was shot down, but why it was shot down," Anil Chauhan, the chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday. He said Pakistan's claim that it shot down six Indian fighter jets was "absolutely incorrect", but refused to specify how many India lost. When asked about the fighter jets, Chauhan said: "Why they were shot down, what mistakes were made - that matters." "The numbers don't matter," he added. According to reports, this is the most direct statement by Indian government or military officials to date on the fate of Indian fighter jets in the India-Pakistan conflict that broke out on May 7.