"Weapons lobby set a narrative": Retired Lt Gen KJS Dhillon on reported losses in Operation Sindoor

New Delhi [India], September 13 (ANI): Retired Lieutenant General KJS (Tiny) Dhillon on Saturday said that the "weapons lobby" had tried to create a narrative of India losing certain aircraft to Pakistan's defence system during Operation Sindoor in order to protect their business interests.
"The fight was going on here at the India-Pakistan border, and narrative building was going on somewhere else. The weapons lobby is setting a narrative as to who lost how many aircraft. The game was being played somewhere else..." Lt Gen Dhillon told ANI.
He said, "Because if India is declared a winner, it means that Indian, Russian, and French weapon systems are better than those of China, Turkey, or the Western Bloc. The third world countries that are the net buyers of the defence equipment, all the orders will come to this bloc."
Lt Gen Dhillon, who served as the Director General of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DG DIA) and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Intelligence) under the Chief of Defence Staff from March 2020 to January 2022, is currently the chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi.
He stressed that victory in war is not determined by isolated losses but by the ultimate outcome. "On 10th May, when we struck 11 airbases with precision, not a single missile of ours could be intercepted by Pakistani air defence - that is victory. When not a single aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force could fly out and intercept our projectiles - that is victory," he said.
"When Pakistan DGMO calls up our DGMO at 3.35 and 10th May and requests, literally begging for a ceasefire - that is victory. When they go running to America or to Saudi Arabia, asking for mediation and a ceasefire - that is victory. When we say that we don't want a third-party mediation as a policy - that is victory," he added.
Highlighting the "battle of narratives," he pointed out that 138 officers and soldiers were honoured as "shaheed" by Pakistan for Operation Sindoor, suggesting the actual number of casualties was likely higher.
"If 138 soldiers and officers have been given a gallantry award as 'Shaheed' (by Pakistan) for Operation Sindoor, how many would have been the actual casualties. This decides who won," he said.
Lt Gen Dhillon has recently authored a new book titled 'Operation Sindoor, The Untold Story of India's Deep Strikes Inside Pakistan,' which details how India responded to the Pahalgam terror attack in April this year.
At least 26 people were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, following which India launched Operation Sindoor. India conducted precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), and also repelled Pakistani aggression and pounded its airbases.
Earlier, on August 10, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh revealed that India had taken down at least five Pakistani fighter jets during Operation Sindoor and destroyed one large aircraft at a distance of about 300 kilometres. He said the aircraft brought down was "the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about." (ANI)