“The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force Chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed,” Asif said in a statement.
He added it was “ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental failure caused by the strategic shortsightedness of Indian politicians.”
“The belated assertions made by the Indian Air Force Chief regarding alleged destruction of Pakistani aircraft during Operation Sindoor are as implausible as they are ill-timed. It is also ironic how senior Indian military officers are being used as the faces of monumental…
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) August 9, 2025
Asif noted that for three months after the conflict, no such claims were made. He said Pakistan had presented “detailed technical briefings” to the international media immediately after the incident, while independent observers acknowledged the loss of multiple Indian aircraft, including Rafales.
These acknowledgements, he said, came from “world leaders, senior Indian politicians to foreign intelligence assessments.”
The minister insisted that “not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed by India,” claiming instead that Pakistan had destroyed six Indian jets, S-400 air defence batteries and unmanned aircraft, while disabling several Indian airbases. He said losses for Indian forces along the Line of Control were “disproportionately heavier.”
“If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification—though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure,” Asif said.
He warned that “wars are not won by falsehoods but by moral authority, national resolve and professional competence,” adding that “comical narratives, crafted for domestic political expediency, increase the grave risks of strategic miscalculation in a nuclearised environment.”
Cautioning New Delhi against any violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, Asif said, “As demonstrated during Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, every violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity will invite swift, surefire and proportionate response, and responsibility for any ensuing escalation will rest entirely with strategically blind leaders who gamble with South Asia’s peace for fleeting political gains.”