Is it up to six now? Is this confirmed? Last I read there was confirmation for three or four. Either way still pretty crazy...and probably a good thing. It should cool off the hotheads in the Indian government a little. Let's hope this was enough of a show of force from Pakistan that things don't escalate further. Nobody except the US benefits from a conflict in this region.
I also wonder what jets these were and what kind of air defenses did Pakistan use...
According to multiple sources, Pakistan’s military has claimed the downing of five Indian jets—three Rafales, one Su-30, and one MiG-29 (which may have gone up to 6 now). India has confirmed the crash of three aircraft but denies that they were shot down by Pakistan. Wreckage components from one of the destroyed jets have reportedly been identified as belonging to a Rafale aircraft.
lol do they think they save face by denying they were shot by pakistan? It's even worse if they fell on their own 😂
It's a possible path to de-escalation. I don't know if India will take it but at least this way they can spin it in their own media to look less humiliating, which in turn means they aren't forced escalate in order to not look weak. Best case scenario each side spins it as a win and things go back to the regular level of tensions.
Honestly things would be so much easier if India was a bit more willing to compromise on issues like this. It's not impossible. China settled their border issues in Kashmir with Pakistan way back in the 1960s in a very mutually satisfactory way. And now their border guards are taking pictures like this:
In a better alternate universe this could be Pakistan and India...
Very good friends that lived all their lives in a remote one-bedroom cabin in Kashmir.
Even their daddies approved after a while & settled their own border issues for them.
(Jk, I understand culture differences)
very mutually satisfactory way
I don't remember the details but such things are never "very" anything, just a decision for peace that, if the compromise was sensible & future-proof, after decades becomes just a normal reality & past troubles put to rest so the new gens can live their own lives (instead those of their parents).
but such things are never "very" anything
Okay, fair, but...two counterpoints:
You sound like my school English teacher telling me i overuse that word; that was nearly twenty years ago so i'm probably not going to break that habit now. 😂
As far as resolving border disputes goes, i think if it's been over half a century without the dispute flaring up again, i'd say that qualifies as "very" satisfactory.
just a decision for peace that, if the compromise was sensible & future-proof, after decades becomes just a normal reality
And that's about the best you can hope for when it comes to any kind of agreement between states.
Omg, lol, so sorry about 1. ;D
But for the second point I didn't mean the result, but the act of when the compromise is done (I didn't explain myself 'very' clearly).
Every pebble "given" to the neighbour will grind someones waking hours until they die, such disputes always leave people 'very' angry on both sides bcs humans.
Yet such feelings are (already at the time) irrelevant if people in the (near) future can live with it - and gain so much more with peace.
(Ofc sometimes such deals lead to even more problems down the road & you get even bigger/great/world wars. That mostly means something was made in bad faith, one-sided, and/or with strong underlying feelings to begin with.)
And that's about the best you can hope for when it comes to any kind of agreement between states.
Yes, I think so too.
Seems that India inadvertently granted China's military industry a huge PR win.