Indian media and politicians across the board are losing their minds after their Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan publicly announced that Indian fighter jets were shot down in their 4-day war with Pakistan.
He said this while talking about the war with Bloomberg. This is the first official acknowledgment of Indian jet losses in the conflict, directly contradicting the Modi government’s earlier denials of Pakistani heroics.
Indian politicians couldn’t withstand the humiliation. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge blamed Modi for misleading the nation and demanded a special session of parliament.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy separately confirmed that five Indian jets were downed and said the French-made jets failed against Chinese aircraft used by Pakistan.
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and other opposition leaders complained why no all-party meeting was convened before announcing the ceasefire. Other Congress politicians criticised the government for allowing the CDS General Anil Chauhan to disclose such sensitive details to foreign media without parliamentary consent.
The Indian government has yet to respond to Anil Chauhan’s remarks. Several commentators in the Indian media industry expect Modi to dismiss Chauhan’s comments.