Khawaja Asif rejects Indian Air Force (IAF) chief’s delayed claims, calling them “as illogical as they are ill-timed
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-August 9th, 2025) Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has challenged India to allow an independent verification of the current aircraft inventory of both countries in response to New Delhi’s recent claims of downing Pakistani fighter jets.
In a statement, Asif rejected the Indian Air Force (IAF) chief’s delayed claims, calling them “as illogical as they are ill-timed,” noting that no such assertion was made for three months after the air battles. He said India did not shoot down or destroy even a single Pakistani aircraft, whereas Pakistan had immediately provided detailed technical briefings to the international media and allowed neutral observers, who acknowledged the loss of several Indian aircraft, including Rafales.
According to the minister, these acknowledgments came from multiple sources, including global leaders, Indian politicians, and foreign intelligence assessments. He claimed Pakistan had destroyed six Indian fighter jets, an S-400 air defence system, Indian drones, and disabled multiple IAF airbases. He further asserted that Indian forces suffered heavier losses—both human and material—along the Line of Control.
Khawaja Asif said if India truly believed its claims, it should agree to an independent verification of both nations’ current aircraft inventories, as such scrutiny would reveal “the truth India is trying to hide.”
He added that wars are not won through lies but through moral superiority, national resolve, and professional skill. He warned that such “fabricated narratives,” often crafted for domestic political gain, could dangerously increase the risk of strategic miscalculations in a nuclear region.
The statement came after Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, four months after the four-day conflict that resulted in six IAF jets being shot down, Pakistan claimed without evidence that India had destroyed six Pakistani aircraft—including five fighter jets—by targeting Pakistan’s airfields.
Pakistan had released details of the engagements immediately after the May 7 aerial battles, including cockpit communications from hacked Indian aircraft, and those claims had been supported by sections of the Indian media at the time.
