New Delhi: For the first time, France’s armed forces ministry has said it is in contact with the Indian government to “better understand” the circumstances surrounding French-origin aircraft during the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan.
At a press conference in Paris on Tuesday,
said the situation remained unclear and that Paris was attempting to make sense of conflicting accounts.
“Regarding the conflict taking place between India and Pakistan, what I mainly observe is that we are in the fog of war and that there is an intense information war. In other words, what we know most of all today is that we don’t know what happened. So indeed, there are a number of allegations that I will not repeat, since there is no confirmed information,” the spokesperson said.
France is understood to be particularly concerned about reports suggesting that Rafale aircrafts, supplied by Dassault Aviation and widely considered the backbone of India’s combat air fleet, may have been lost in action during Operation Sindoor.
“The issue of the Rafale is, of course, of primary importance to us. We are naturally keen to understand what happened, and so we are trying to stay as close as possible to our Indian partner to better understand the situation,” the spokesperson added.
“Obviously, the most significant feedback will come from this use in high-intensity combat, which apparently, according to some reports, involved several hundred aircraft. So, of course, we are following these events as closely as possible,” the spokesperson said.
Noting that the Rafale had seen two decades of active service across various theatres of war, the official said any confirmation of a combat loss would mark a first in the aircraft’s operational history. “What we can especially note today is that the Rafale has seen 20 years of operational use – 20 years of combat deployment – and that if it turns out there was indeed a loss, it would be the first combat loss of this warplane.”
The Indian government has not commented on international media reports suggesting that an Indian aircraft may have been shot down or crashed during the strikes carried out on the night of May 6-7, when Indian forces targeted nine suspected terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Official statements have only acknowledged that losses are an inevitable part of warfare.
At a media briefing on May 8, foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that official information will be shared when the time is right.
On May 11, a day after fighting ended between India and Pakistan, Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti responded to a question about possible losses by stating, “We are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of it. The question is, have we achieved our objective? The answer is a thumping yes. As for details, at this time I would not like to comment on that as we are still in combat and (do not want to) give advantage to (the) adversary. All our pilots are back home”.