Watch | 'Numbers Matter, Else CDS Would Have Made it Public': Sushant Singh

Sushant Singh, who is a consulting editor at Caravan magazine and a lecturer at America’s Yale University, has refuted the Chief of Defence Staff’s claim that “numbers are not important” when it comes to the number of air force planes India lost in Operation Sindoor.

“Numbers are important and if numbers were not important Gen. Chauhan would have accepted them. The fact there is so much of kerfuffle in India and so much of anger amongst supporters of Modi…clearly points to the fact that numbers are important. Numbers do matter.”

In a 30-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Singh, pointed out that of the nine targets India attacked on May 7, military officials have claimed (to The Hindu) that seven were assigned to the Indian army which means that only two were left to the air force. If in targeting those two – in what was, remember, just a 25-minute operation – up to five aircraft could have possibly been shot down then it’s a matter of concern and cannot be brushed aside.

Speaking about possible reasons why India might have lost up to five air craft (we are not sure of the precise figure, it varies between 1 and 5), Singh said it could be because of the rules of engagement which dictated that India would only strike non-military targets i.e. terrorist bases and, therefore, India did not take adequate measures to eliminate Pakistan’s air defences. In contrast, Pakistan had no hesitation in directly attacking Indian air force planes i.e. military targets and this, he said, might have surprised the Indians because they may have thought Pakistan would not retaliate against military targets.

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