Various claims are emerging after President Trump’s statement. Now it is clear that 5 planes were shot down during the conflict. But it is still not known which country’s army the planes belonged to and where the crews are?
US President Donald Trump had claimed during a private dinner with Republican lawmakers at the White House on July 18, 2025, that “five planes were shot down” during the conflict between India and Pakistan in May 2025. He did not clarify which country these planes belonged to. This statement was in reference to Operation Sindoor, which was India’s military operation launched in response to a terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, in which 26 people were killed.
Pakistan claimed to have shot down five Indian aircraft, including three Rafale jets, during Operation Sindoor. However, India has denied these claims, saying that no Rafale jets were lost and all Indian pilots returned safely.
Indian Defence Chief General Anil Chauhan had admitted in an interview that the Indian Air Force suffered some losses, but termed the claim of six Pakistani aircraft being shot down as “completely false”. He stressed that it is more important to understand “why the aircraft went down” than the number of losses and that India had rapidly improved its tactics to carry out precision strikes up to 300 km inside Pakistan.
In addition, Eric Trappier, CEO of France’s Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale, on June 15, 2025, called Pakistan’s claim of shooting down three Rafale jets “factually incorrect”.
During the conflict, India also claimed to have shot down some Pakistani aircraft, while Pakistan denied any loss of aircraft but confirmed attacks on its airfields.
Trump’s statement once again sparked controversy, as he did not clarify which country the aircraft belonged to, and there was no independent confirmation of his claim.
India had also rejected the US President’s claim that the US played a significant role in preventing the conflict between the two countries, saying that the ceasefire was achieved through bilateral talks “not due to US mediation”.
Following the US President’s latest claim, different reactions are emerging on the possible reasons for the cessation of the conflict between the two countries. Questions are being raised as to what happened to the pilots of those aircraft if five aircraft from either country were shot down, where are they?