Image Source: Agencies

June, 2025: There has been a lot of interest and discussion on Operation Sindoor in India and outside as a result of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan's May 31 talk with a foreign news agency at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. It has also sparked several worries, all of which have good grounds.
"What is crucial is not the jet being down, but why they were being downed," the CDS said in response to a query concerning allegations made by Pakistan on India losing combat aircraft in the early phases of Operation Sindoor.
General Chauhan said that India had quickly corrected its “tactical mistakes” and resumed high-precision strikes at the intended targets, some deep within Pakistan, but he did not provide any details regarding the number of platforms destroyed in combat. "What mistakes were made— those are crucial," he continued. Numbers do not matter. The good news is that we were able to recognize our tactical error, fix it, and then re-implement it two days later, flying our jets and aiming at long range this time.
The top level of military command has interpreted this as the first proof that India lost any aircraft during Operation Sindoor. Recall that Air Force representative Air Marshal Bharti had said, "We are in a combat scenario, losses are a part of warfare," in response to a similar question about fighter aircraft losses at the May 11 military conference in Delhi, which was held shortly after the end of hostilities. Have we succeeded in destroying the terrorist camps? That is the question you need to ask us. And "thumping yeah" is the response.
In light of this, the CDS's statement is relevant and offers more tactical understanding of Op Sindoor's actions. Additionally, General Chauhan mentioned the nuclear threshold and Delhi's response to it. Although this thread was not followed, any information regarding the CDS's involvement in Operation Sindoor would have been extremely helpful.
Experts will closely examine these statements since Op Sindoor contains numerous threads pertaining to the management of a high-intensity conflict between two states with nuclear weapons, both through strategic signaling and the narrative campaign that has gained independence in the contemporary day. The current global consensus is that winning the "story war" is just as important as winning the fight in the combat domain. Both domestically and internationally, perceptions need to be positively formed. India has been placed at a disadvantage in this situation; the CDS's comments in Singapore have highlighted this crucial aspect of national security.
No country provides specific tactical intelligence during conflict, especially regarding platform loss or damage. In fact, the administration remained silent despite the fervent conjecture regarding the number of Rafale aircraft that India had lost during Operation Sindoor. It did, however, permit some segments of the audiovisual media to indulge in ugly majoritarian nationalism and loud triumphalism, to which some embellished evaluations from outside sources were added. As a result, the Indian media's credibility continued to decline. Credibility in the media is a professional quality that a country should respect and cultivate.
Operation Sindoor began on May 7 and the Pahalgam slaughter occurred on April 22. Delhi, which is renowned for its ability to communicate both domestically and internationally under Modi, knew that the Shangri-La Dialogue would be held in Singapore at the end of May. Had a good strat com plan been established? The CDS's comments would imply otherwise.
The narrative conflict is still going on while Operation Sindoor is in pause mode. Trump's claims about mediating a truce have sparked controversy in Delhi. Addressing national security issues requires adherence to the truth and openness that characterize democracies. There are numerous lessons to be learned from Galwan 2020 and Op Sindoor 2025.