New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh mocked Pakistan on Friday by saying that its claims of downing Indian fighter jets are nothing but “Manohar Kahaniyan” or imaginary stories.
“If they think they downed 15 of our jets, I hope they are convinced about it and they will cater for 15 less aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again,” ACM Singh said, jabbing Pakistan for only making tall claims, but never releasing a picture of any of the Indian airbases to prove them.
“We showed so many pictures of their places. However, they couldn’t show us even a single picture. So their narrative is ‘Manohar Kahaniyan’. Let them be happy, after all, they also have to show something to their audience to save their reputation. That doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
At an event ahead of Air Force Day that falls on October 8, the air chief reiterated how Indian armed forces downed five Pakistani jets during Operation Sindoor. This came days after Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif presented distorted facts related to India’s military strike during his remarks at the UN General Assembly.
ACM Singh went on to say that the Pakistani aircraft destroyed by India were primarily of the F-16 and JF-17 class. India struck several airfields and installations in Pakistan, rendering a huge blow to its radars, command and control centres, hangars and runways, he said.
“We have signs of one C-130 class of aircraft…and at least 4 to 5 fighter aircraft, most likely F-16, because that place happened to be F-16 with whatever was under maintenance at that time,” he said.
“We have clear evidence of one long-range strike, which I talked about more than 300 km, which happened to be either an AEW&C or a SIGINT aircraft, along with that five high-tech fighters between F-16 and JF-17 class this is what our system tells us,” the air chief said.
Pakistani leaders have been shamelessly peddling lies since cessation of operations. Sharif told the UN General Assembly recently that Pakistani forces downed seven Indian jets. “Our falcons took flight and etched thier answer across the skies, resulting in seven of the Indian jets turning to scrap and dust,” he had said.
Sharif also alleged that India’s attack on “civilians” prompted Pakistani forces to intervene. “India sought to extract political gains from a human tragedy by spurning my sincere offer of an independent investigation into the Pahalgam incident. Instead, it attacked our cities and targeted our innocent civilians,” he said.
India hit back the next day when Petal Gahlot, first secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said: “If destroyed runways and burnt-out hangars look like victory, as the prime minister claimed, Pakistan is welcome to enjoy it.”