Top military commanders monitor ‘Operation Sindoor’ live

A controversy has arisen following remarks by Captain Shiv Kumar, the Indian defence attaché in Indonesia, about the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) initial losses during Operation Sindoor. In a seminar on June 10, Captain Kumar suggested that the IAF lost fighter jets in the early phase of the operation due to "constraints" imposed by the mandate set by India's civilian political leadership, which directed the armed forces to avoid attacking Pakistani military installations and focus solely on terrorist infrastructure.

A video of these remarks surfaced on June 29, leading to significant political and media debate in India. Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, seized on the comments to accuse the government of misleading the public about the operation’s conduct and outcomes. They argued that the government should have been more transparent about the losses and the strategic decisions involved.

In response, the Indian Embassy in Jakarta issued a formal clarification, emphasizing that Captain Kumar’s remarks had been "quoted out of context" and "misrepresented" by media reports.

The embassy stressed that the core message of the presentation was to highlight a foundational principle of India’s civil-military structure: the Indian Armed Forces operate strictly under the authority of civilian political leadership, in contrast to practices in some neighbouring countries.

The embassy further clarified that the operation’s initial objective was to target terrorist infrastructure, and that India’s military response was deliberately non-escalatory, as per the government’s instructions.

The controversy underscores the tension between operational military decisions and the political directives that guide them. While the loss of IAF aircraft in the early stages of Operation Sindoor was acknowledged by both Captain Kumar and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, the latter described these losses as tactical lessons that informed a subsequent shift in Indian tactics, leading to deeper and more aggressive strikes.

The embassy’s clarification aimed to reaffirm that such constraints reflect India’s commitment to democratic civilian control over the military, rather than any operational failing.

The remarks by the defence attaché were intended to illustrate the Indian military’s adherence to civilian oversight and a non-escalatory doctrine, but were misrepresented in some media coverage, fuelling political controversy at home.

Agencies