India's narrative crumbles as Trump says up to five Indian jets were downed by Pakistan

India’s anti-Pakistan narrative suffered a major setback after US President Donald Trump revealed that four to five Indian fighter jets were shot down during the recent military confrontation between the two countries.

While addressing Republican members of Congress at the White House on Friday, President Trump did not explicitly state that Pakistan was responsible for shooting down the Indian jets.

However, he did confirm that "in fact, five aircraft were shot down," without elaborating further.

He added only that the situation was escalating rapidly, a conflict he claimed to have stopped.

Trump again asserted that the war was halted by the US after offering trade deals to Pakistan and India.

"We said, you guys want to make a trade deal. We're not making a trade deal if you're going to be throwing around weapons, and maybe nuclear weapons, both very powerful nuclear states."

While Trump did not identify the specific jets, his remarks concerned Indian aircraft as India has not officially claimed any Pakistani aircraft shot down.

However, Indian officials have acknowledged on several occasions in press conferences and media interviews that Pakistan had successfully targeted Indian Rafale jets.

The Indian government has also confirmed the deaths of its personnel, announcing posthumous military honors for several soldiers, including four pilots, three of whom were operating Rafale fighter jets during the conflict.

Indian Defence Attaché Captain Shiv Kumar admitted that the Indian Air Force “did lose some aircraft” on the night of what he described as unprovoked Indian strikes on civilian areas inside Pakistan.

India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, also acknowledged in an interview with Bloomberg that Pakistan had shot down Indian jets. However, he refrained from specifying the exact number.

When asked directly if Pakistani forces had downed Indian aircraft, he first acknowledged the loss but quickly redirected attention to operational matters, saying, “I think the jet being downed is not important, but why it was downed. The good part is that we were able to identify the tactical mistake we made, correct it, and later flew our jets again, this time with long-range targeting.”

Earlier in April, an attack in the Pahalgam area of Indian-occupied Kashmir left 26 people dead. India quickly blamed Pakistan for the attack without providing any evidence. Pakistan strongly rejected the accusation and offered full cooperation in an independent investigation.

While the United States condemned the Pahalgam attack, it notably refrained from endorsing India’s claim that Pakistan was behind the incident.

On May 7, tensions escalated into a full-scale confrontation when India initiated military aggression against Pakistan. Pakistan retaliated with force and shot down five Indian aircraft, including Rafale jets. India has so far avoided confirming these losses.

The brief but intense conflict saw the use of fighter jets, drones, and heavy artillery from both sides, resulting in significant Indian losses. Eventually, India sought US intervention and signaled willingness for a ceasefire.

President Trump has taken credit for mediating the ceasefire, claiming that his communication with the leadership of both nations led to the de-escalation. According to Trump, a truce was reached on May 10 after he warned both countries that the U.S. would halt trade relations if they did not agree to cease hostilities.