I've always believed that most Indians and Pakistanis are so similar that they might be first cousins. The people of our Punjab are remarkably like those who live in Indian Punjab. They are both good technicians, they are good fighters, they look alike, they speak the same language and they have the same customs. They even have the same primitive beliefs about women (but that is true of most Pakistanis as well).
So I wasn't very surprised when the Indian Air Force chief (Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh) suddenly declared that his air force had shot down six Pakistani planes in the four day war in May this year. In fact, I wonder why he didn't make this fantastic statement earlier, why did he do it three months after the conflict? Better late than never, I suppose.
The timing is very significant. It came after Trump repeatedly said that five or six jets had been shot down, as Pakistan has proved. So even Indian analysts are amazed. One of them even says that it's a lie, and it will have a demoralizing effect on Indian air force officers, who know the truth. Obviously, it's a desperate attempt to save Modi from humiliation. But I doubt if it will succeed.
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