The admission by the chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan, that India lost combat jets during the military offensive against Pakistan should not come as a surprise. India had at no point denied the downing of its military aircraft since the inception of the conflict. Mr Chauhan also made it clear that Pakistan’s claims of downing several Indian jets are exaggerated. Admittedly, it is strange that Mr Chauhan chose an event in Singapore — an intergovernmental security conference — and the foreign media to officially confirm these losses. The Narendra Modi government — did Mr Chauhan have its clearance to say what he did? — should have taken the nation, Parliament and the domestic media in confidence when it came to sharing such sensitive information. But the point is not whether Mr Chauhan’s statement has handed Pakistan an advantageous position in the war of narratives. Or whether this is an instance of a diplomatic self-goal on New Delhi’s part. This is because Mr Chauhan also made it clear that India learnt quickly from its tactical errors and went on to inflict punishing blows on Pakistan. Losses and mistakes are integral to combat. The difference lies in the ability to learn from errors: something that India’s military leadership has demonstrated in abundance. In fact, there is a case to argue in favour of a deeper post-mortem to these setbacks in the air so that they can be rooted out in the future. In this context, the points raised by Amar Preet Singh, the air chief marshal, in his first public interaction after Operation Sindoor, merit examination. Mr Singh not only questioned the tendency of those involved in the manufacturing of military hardware, especially fighter jets, to promise the moon and then renege on it but also urged the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Indian private sector to take on the challenge of seamless delivery of military products. The rhetoric of atmanirbharta has merit. But rhetoric must be transformed into concrete action.
The cacophony that has greeted Mr Chauhan’s statement is also revelatory in one more aspect. Modern conflicts entail a parallel battle: this one pertains to information. Little wonder then that the CDS also let it be known that 15% of the operational time during India’s military escalation with Pakistan went in confronting fake news and disinformation. India’s military leaders will do well to shut out this unnecessary noise and concentrate on learning from errors, if any, and make the country's military even sharper.