Indian Air Force chief Amar Preet Singh on Saturday said India had shot down at least five Pakistani fighter jets and one large military aircraft during Operation Sindoor, using the Russian-made S-400 anti-aircraft missile.

He did not mention any losses suffered by India but said the key reason behind the success of the May 7-10 military operation was the “presence of political will”.

Indian defence officials had earlier acknowledged that India had lost aircraft but not revealed how many.

Air Chief Marshal Singh’s comments marked the first official disclosure of the number of Pakistani jets India had shot down during Sindoor.

His remarks came days after Rahul Gandhi alleged in Parliament that India had lost aircraft during the conflict because of the Narendra Modi government’s failure to show “political will”.

“We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 kilometres,” Singh said delivering the Air Chief Marshal L.M. Katre lecture in Bengaluru.

“This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about,” he added.

“A key reason for (the) success was the presence of clear political will. There were very clear directions given to us. No restrictions were put on us…. If there were any constraints, they were self-made…. We decided how much to escalate and we had full freedom to plan and execute.”

Captain Shiv Kumar, the defence attaché in Indonesia, had earlier said India had lost “some” combat jets on May 7 because of the “constraint given by the political leadership” against striking Pakistani military establishments and air defences.

In Parliament, Rahul had cited Shiv Kumar to allege that the government had compelled the forces to conduct Operation Sindoor with their “hands tied behind their backs” to protect Modi’s image.

Before Shiv Kumar, Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan had acknowledged that India had lost fighter jets on Sindoor’s opening day before rectifying its tactical mistakes and launching attacks that “hit deep inside Pakistan” on subsequent days.

Listing the other damages on Pakistan’s defence capabilities, the air chief on Saturday said: “Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield, one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone and some aircraft inside might have been damaged.

“And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which got damaged there. We were able to get at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala. At least six radars, some of them big, some of them small.…”

‘Ghost’ of Balakot

The air chief said India had fought “a high-tech war”, laying to rest the “ghost” of the Balakot air strike launched on Pakistan in 2019 in retaliation for the Pulwama terror attack.

The air chief expressed disappointment at those who had questioned the success of the Balakot air strikes.

“...In Balakot, we couldnot get anything from inside, and it became a big issuetrying to tell our own people, unfortunately, as to whatwe have been able to achieve,” he said.

“We had intelligence of what had gone on inside, had a human kind of intelligence where we had a very clear picture of the inside in terms of there had been huge damage.”

He added: “There have been so many terrorists who have been neutralised, but we could not convince our own people that, ‘Look, we have achieved that’. So I am very happy that this time we were able to take care of that ghost of Balakot that we were able to tell the world what we have achieved.”

Singh showed photos, videos and satellite imagery relating to Operation Sindoor.

‘Good decision’

Air Chief Marshal Singh defended the government’s move to pause Operation Sindoor, saying the decision reflected wisdom after achieving key military objectives.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed to have brokered a “ceasefire” between India and Pakistan. But the Modi governmentsays the decision to stop the operation was its own and that a heavily battered Pakistan had requested the halt —claims that Singh appeared to endorse.

“People got down to their egos in the war. Our objective was very clear — to teach terrorists a lesson so they think twice before doing anything,” the air chief said.

“Once we achieved that, we should have looked for all windows of opportunity to stop. Some people very closeto me said, ‘Aur maarna tha’,” he added.

“Can we continue to be at war? Why should we remain at war when we can stop it? That’s my way of looking at things, but I think the nation has taken a very, very good decision. The decision was taken at a much higher level.

“In 80 to 90 hours of war, we were able to achieve so much damage that it was clear to them (Pakistan) that if they continue, they are going to pay for it more and more.

“So they came forwardand sent a message to our DGMO that they wanted to talk. This was accepted onour side.”

However, the Opposition believes that Trump’s remarks raise questions that the Modi government needs to answer.

Several Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge —the leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses — have questioned the timing and the logic behind the halt to Operation Sindoor.