US President Donald Trump has triggered a diplomatic stir after claiming that five fighter jets were shot down during the May military exchange between India and Pakistan, following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
Speaking at a private Republican dinner at the White House, Trump recounted the four-day military confrontation between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and claimed the US helped defuse tensions by leveraging trade negotiations.
“In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” Trump said, without clarifying whether Indian or Pakistani aircraft were involved or offering any evidence to support his assertion.
The remarks referred to the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, which prompted India to launch Operation Sindoor – a coordinated military offensive involving the Army, Air Force, and Navy to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Trump also boasted that his administration had prevented a potential nuclear escalation between the two countries by threatening to halt trade negotiations unless the conflict de-escalated.
“We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan, that was going on. These are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other,” Trump said.
“We said, ‘You guys want to make a trade deal? We’re not making a trade deal if you’re throwing around weapons – and maybe nuclear weapons.’”
However, Trump’s dramatic account has drawn sharp scepticism in India, where officials insist the US did not intervene in the conflict’s resolution.
Senior government sources reiterated that the flare-up was addressed bilaterally between New Delhi and Islamabad and that Trump’s version does not reflect the reality on the ground.
Indian officials have also firmly denied the loss of any aircraft during Operation Sindoor.
“All Indian pilots returned safely,” Air Marshal A.K. Bharti confirmed publicly on May 11, dismissing any speculation of aircraft losses.
The Indian government maintains that the operation was a success, targeting and dismantling multiple terror bases across the Line of Control and within Pakistani territory, and that it acted independently without any foreign mediation.
India’s strong military response followed the attack on civilians and tourists in Pahalgam – one of the deadliest terror strikes in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years.
Pakistan’s military, while acknowledging some cross-border hostilities, has not confirmed any losses of aircraft either, and the claim of five jets being shot down has no corroborated basis in official reports from either country.
