SINGAPORE - India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of con-flict with Pakistan this month and gained a decisive advantage before the two neighbours announced a ceasefire three days later, India's highest-ranking general said on Saturday.
The heaviest fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed nations was triggered by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the attack on "terrorists" backed by Pakistan — a charge Islamabad denied.
On May 7, Indian jets bombed what New Delhi described as "terrorist infrastructure" sites across the border. Pakistan claimed it shot down six Indian aircraft during the initial clashes, including at least three Rafale fighter jets.
The ceasefire was announced on May 10 after intense fighting in which both sides deployed fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery.
General Anil Chauhan, India’s Chief of Defence Staff, said in an interview that India suffered initial losses in the air but declined to provide specific details.
"What was important was why those losses occurred, and what we did afterward," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, referring to Pakistan’s claims of downing Indian jets. (Reuters)
