Key points
- Pakistan says it downed six Indian jets, including four Rafale aircraft
- India is yet to confirm any losses officially
- It has only officially acknowledged that “losses are an inevitable part of warfare”
ISLAMABAD: For the first time, France’s armed forces ministry has issued a statement addressing reports of the downing of French-origin Rafale fighter aircraft by Pakistan during a recent clash with India, saying, “If it turns out there was indeed a loss, it would be the first combat loss of this warplane.”
A spokesperson for the French armed forces ministry said they were in contact with the Indian government to “better understand” the circumstances surrounding French-origin aircraft during the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“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.
India is yet to confirm any losses however, official statements have only acknowledged that “losses are an inevitable part of warfare”.
Six Indian fighter jets
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the country’s air force shot down six Indian fighter jets, including four French-made Rafales, during the latest military conflict with its archival India.
At a press conference in Paris on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the French defence ministry said the situation remained unclear and that Paris was attempting to make sense of conflicting accounts, Pheonix TV reported.
“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.
“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.”
