Five jets were shot down in Pakistan-India conflict, says President Trump

Washington (Reuters): United States President Donald Trump said on Friday that five jets were shot down during the recent India-Pakistan conflict that began after a deadly attack in India-occupied Kashmir’s Pahalgam, with the situation calming after a ceasefire 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.

Pakistan had said it downed six Indian planes after the latter carried out deadly attacks in Punjab and Azad Kashmir, while New Delhi had claimed it had downed “a few planes”.

“Something I’m very proud of [is that] we stopped a lot of wars. A lot of wars. And these were serious, serious wars; would have been going on,” Trump said.

“It was getting worse and worse, wasn’t it? […] These are two serious nuclear countries and they were hitting each other. It seems like a new form of warfare; you saw it recently, when you looked at what we did in Iran when we knocked out their nuclear capability, totally knocked out,” he said, referring to the US strikes on Iran’s three nuclear sites.

India launched air strikes on Pakistan in early May, following allegations linking Islamabad to the Pahalgam attack — claims Pakistan denied.

In retaliation, the Pakistan Air Force shot down five Indian jets. The two sides exchanged strikes on each other's airbases before a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was reached on May 10.

India also claimed it had downed "a few planes" of Pakistan. Islamabad denied suffering any losses of planes but acknowledged that its air bases had been hit.