The Indian Embassy in Indonesia has clarified that some recent remarks made by its defence attaché were misunderstood and taken out of context. The remarks were about the losses faced by the Indian Air Force (IAF) during Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The embassy released a statement on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) saying that the remarks by Navy Captain Shiv Kumar were “misrepresented” in the media.

“We have seen media reports regarding a presentation made by the defence attaché at a seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context, and the media reports are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker,” the embassy wrote.

“The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership, unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood. It was also explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure, and the Indian response was non-escalatory,” the statement added.

What did Captain Shiv Kumar say?

Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar, who is India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, made the remarks during a seminar on June 10. In his talk, he said that the Indian Air Force had lost “some aircraft” during the first strike of Operation Sindoor.

He explained the reason by saying, “Only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defences.”

He also mentioned how the Indian strategy changed after that. “We went for the military installations... We first achieved suppression of enemy air defences, and then... all our attacks could easily go through using BrahMos missiles,” Captain Kumar said.

Congress attacks government over the issue

After the comments became public, the Congress party strongly criticised the BJP-led central government.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked, “Why is the PM refusing to preside over an all-party meeting and take the Opposition into confidence? Why has the demand for a special session of Parliament been rejected?"

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera called the defence attaché’s words a “direct indictment” of the government. He posted on X, “They know they’ve compromised national security, and they’re terrified of what the Congress Party will expose before the people of India.”Bottom of Form

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