WNAM MONITORING: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that up to five fighter jets were shot down during the recent military flare-up between India and Pakistan, which erupted after an April militant attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
He said tensions eased only after a ceasefire was reached in May.
Trump, who made his remarks at a dinner with some Republican US lawmakers at the White House, did not specify which side’s jets he was referring to.
“In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” Trump said while talking about the Pakistan-India hostilities, without elaborating or providing further detail.
Pakistan claimed it had downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat. India’s highest-ranking general said in late May that India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of hostilities and established an advantage before a ceasefire was announced three days later.
India also claimed it had downed “a few planes” of Pakistan. Islamabad denied suffering any losses of planes.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan that he announced on social media on May 10 after Washington held talks with both sides.
India has differed with Trump’s claims that it resulted from his intervention and his threats to sever trade talks.
India’s position has been that New Delhi and Islamabad must resolve their problems directly and with no outside involvement.
India is an increasingly important US partner in Washington’s effort to counter China’s influence in Asia, while Pakistan is a US ally.
The April attack in IIOJK killed 26 men and sparked heavy fighting between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbours in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry.
New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility while calling for a neutral investigation.
Washington condemned the attack but did not directly blame Islamabad.
On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as “terrorist infrastructure,” setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery that killed dozens until the ceasefire was reached.
