Pakistan Challenges India to Conduct Audit of Joint Aircraft

Defence affairs - Def-Geopolitics

Islamabad demands full transparency in assessing the loss of Operation Sindoor aircraft, urging India to join an international audit to verify the true facts.

In what is seen as a dramatic escalation in the information war in South Asia, Pakistan has issued a high-stakes challenge to India by demanding a Joint Aircraft Inventory Audit to debunk what it describes as false claims of Pakistani aircraft missing during the four-day fierce air battle in Operation Sindoor in May.

If the proposal is accepted, both countries would need to open up full inventories of their air fleets to independent international verification, comparing the number of operational aircraft before and after the conflict to determine the actual losses suffered on the battlefield.

Yesterday, India, through its Air Force Commander, declared that its military had shot down five Pakistani Air Force (PAF) fighter jets and an Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft, allegedly using its Russian-made S-400 Triumf long-range air defense system.

The claim also involves the record for the longest surface-to-air firing range in South Asian history, which is approximately 300 kilometers.

Pakistan, however, categorically rejected the statement, considering it unreasonable and ridiculous from a strategic point of view, while insisting that not a single PAF aircraft was destroyed in Operation Sindoor.

On the other hand, Pakistan claims to have destroyed six Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter jets, including three Rafales, in addition to destroying the S-400 air defense system, shooting down several Indian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and crippling several Indian forward air bases in the early stages of the conflict.

This Joint Aircraft Inventory Audit demand goes far beyond a mere media backlash — it is a strategically targeted move in the information warfare arena.