The Pakistan Air Force (PAF ) warriors were presented with national honors and medals for their earlier performances in the recent conflict against India as part of Pakistan’s 79th Independence Day celebrations on Thursday at the President’s House in Islamabad.
In July, the planning minister said that this year’s Independence Day would be marked as Mark-i-Haq, Battle of Truth. The state uses the term for the conflict with India from the April 22 Paragram attack to the end of Operation Buniyan-e-Mursus, with a ceasefire declared on May 10. The May conflict sparked as New Delhi blamed India for the Paragram attack without evidence and struck and struck multiple locations in Pakistan on the night of May 6 and 7.
Pakistan, in retaliation, downed six Indian jets. The following days were followed by both countries attacking each other with drones. Pakistan had downed six Indian planes in air-to-air combat on May 7. According to India Services Public Relations, eight warriors from Pakistan Air Force were awarded with Sitara-e-Jurrat Star of Courage, five Tamgha-e-Jurrat Medal of Courage, 24 Sitara-e-Basalat (Star of Valour), 45 Tamgha-e-Basalat (Medal of Valour), and 146 Imtiaz-e-Asnad mentioned in the dispatches of senior commanders. Two 59 COAS Commendation Cards and one Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Military Medal of Excellence) were awarded to both officers and enlisted men.
Describing Pakistan’s response to the Indian Air Force, PAF Director General Public Relations Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed, on Monday, 12th, said that the PAF response was based on the time and place of our choosing, displaying bold, aggressive, and unwavering results of the brave military leadership.
Last month, Chinese Air Force Chief Lieutenant General Wang Gang lauded the exemplary performance during the aerial clash, praising the decisive and measured response delivered by PAF pilots under the resilient leadership of the Air Chief.
Last week, in response to claims that India had shot down Pakistani aircraft, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif noted that not a single Pakistani aircraft was hit or destroyed by India, adding that Pakistan hit six Indian jets, S-400 air defence batteries, and unmanned aircraft of India while swiftly putting several Indian bases out of action.
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French Air Chief General Jerome Belanger had previously stated that he had seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale. The Indian Air Force has not commented on those claims. Days after their combat, the Washington Post, based on visual evidence analysed by experts, reported that at least two French-made Indian fighter jets were shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.
According to the Wire, India’s Defence Attaché to Indonesia, Indian Navy Captain Shiv Kumar, speaking at the seminar in June, acknowledged that the PAF downed the Indian fighters. Moreover, Reuters interviews with two Indian officials and three of their Pakistani counterparts found that the performance of the Rafale was not the key problem. However, the manpower operating it was the problem, and the poor intelligence failure concerning the range of China-made PL-15 missiles fired by the J-10 was the main cause of India’s debacle.