India lost jets in Op Sindoor due to ‘political constraint' of not attacking Pakistani military targets, says Navy official

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A navy official said India lost some fighter jets on the first day of Operation Sindoor because of 'political constraints' and orders for the military to strike only terrorist camps and avoid Pakistani military bases. read more
The BSF emphasised that India's response to Pakistan's cross-border fire was forceful and efficient. News18
India lost some fighter jets on the first day of its recent military clash with Pakistan because the government initially restricted strikes to terrorist targets only, and not Pakistani military bases, India's defence attaché to Indonesia, Captain Shiv Kumar has said.
He made these comments at a seminar in Jakarta on 10 June, which were earlier not in the knowledge of the public or the press.
He was responding to claims from an Indonesian aerospace expert, who said the Indian Air Force lost five fighter jets — three Rafales, one MiG-29, and one Sukhoi-30 — along with a tactical drone.
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Operation Sindoor was India's direct military response to the terror attack in Pahalgam on 22 April, in which Pakistan-backed terrorists killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
Political constraints limited initial strikes
'I may not agree with him that India lost so many aircraft. But I do agree that we did lose some aircraft, and that happened only because of the constraint given by the political leadership not to attack the military establishments and their air defences,' said Captain Shiv Kumar.
India shifted tactics after early losses
He further explained how India changed its strategy after the early air losses and went on to gain complete control over Pakistan.
'After the loss, we changed our tactics and went for their military installations. We first achieved suppression of enemy air defences and destruction of enemy air defences (known as SEAD and DEAD in military parlance), and that's why all our attacks could easily go through using surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-surface missiles… On 8, 9 and 10 May, there was complete air superiority by India,' he said.
Official response and embassy clarification
The Ministry of Defence declined to comment on Kumar's remarks. However, the Indian embassy in Jakarta said in a statement that his words were taken 'out of context.'
'The media reports misrepresented the purpose and focus of the presentation,' the embassy said. 'The presentation explained that the Indian Armed Forces operate under civilian political leadership, unlike some neighbouring countries. It also clarified that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure, and that India's response was not meant to escalate the conflict.'
Previous clarification by General Chauhan
Kumar's comments came a month after India's Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, said in Singapore on 31 May that India lost fighter jets on 7 May due to tactical errors. He said those mistakes were quickly corrected, and the Indian Air Force soon returned with more aircraft to carry out precision strikes deep inside Pakistan, overcoming its air defences.
So far, the government has not officially addressed statements from senior defence officials about the loss of aircraft during the conflict.
Instruction only to target terror camps: Navy official
In his 35-minute presentation, Kumar said the government's only instruction to the armed forces was to target terrorist camps alone.
'No military installations, no civilian sites… nothing unrelated to terrorists was to be targeted,' he said during the seminar titled Analysis of the Pakistan-India Air Battle and Indonesia's Anticipatory Strategies from the Perspective of Air Power.