Pakistan’s claims of having shot down Indian aircraft during the four-day conflict between the two countries in May are meant to “save their reputation” domestically, said Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Friday.

Singh described Pakistan’s claims as “manohar kahaniyan”, or tall tales, and said they did not matter to him.

“Have you seen a single picture where something fell on any of our airbases, something hit us, a hangar was destroyed, or anything like that?” ANI quoted the Air Force chief as saying. “We showed so many pictures of their places. However, they couldn’t show us even a single picture.”

Singh added: “If they [Pakistan] think they shot down 15 of my jets, let them think about it. I hope they’re convinced about it, and they will cater for 15 less aircraft in my inventory when they come to fight again. So why should I talk about it?”

The Air Force chief also said that India downed five Pakistan aircraft of the F-16 and JF-17 classes during the four-day conflict, Reuters reported. While F-16 jets are manufactured in the United States, JF-17 aircraft are Chinese-made.

Singh also said that India struck a large number of Pakistani airfields and installations, inflicting damage on radars in at least four places, command and control centres at two places and runways at two places.

On August 9 as well, the Air Force chief had said that five Pakistani jets had been shot down by Indian air defence systems during Operation Sindoor. On Friday, however, he mentioned the class of the jets for the first time.

Singh had on August 9 also said that India had shot down one “large aircraft”, which was either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW&C aircraft.

AEW&C, or an airborne early warning and control system, is an aircraft fitted with a radar that detects the adversary’s fighter jets, other planes, missiles and other projectiles at long ranges. AEW&Cs also act as aerial command and control centres.

ELINT aircraft are used to gather and analyse electronic signals to gain intelligence about the adversary.

The Indian military had claimed on May 12, two days after the ceasefire, that the Pakistan Air Force had lost “a few” aircraft.

Pakistan has claimed that it shot down Indian fighter jets during air-to-air combat. The claims made by Islamabad have not been independently verified.

India has acknowledged suffering aircraft losses during the initial phase of the conflict, but has not disclosed the number of planes lost.

On July 7, Indian Defence Secretary RK Singh told CNBC-TV18 that it was incorrect to say that multiple Rafale jets of the Indian Air Force were shot down by Pakistan. “You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct,” the official told the channel.

While Islamabad has not commented on losing any of its aircraft, it has acknowledged that several of its airbases were struck during the hostilities.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel were killed in the shelling.

India and Pakistan on May 10 reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict.

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