Subhechcha Ganguly 
The Indian Embassy in Indonesia has issued a clarification over recent media reports surrounding remarks made by its Defence Attaché, Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar, regarding Operation Sindoor. The embassy stated that the officer’s comments were “taken out of context” and “misrepresented,” sparking unwarranted speculation.
The clarification came after Captain Shiv Kumar, during a seminar held on June 10, mentioned that the Indian Air Force (IAF) had lost “some aircraft” during strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of Operation Sindoor. He also explained that political directives at the time had restrained the armed forces from targeting Pakistani military infrastructure or air defences in the initial strike.
“Only because of the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or their air defences,” he noted while discussing the reason for the initial IAF losses. He further elaborated that tactics were later revised, and Indian forces successfully targeted military installations, using BrahMos missiles after achieving suppression of enemy air defences.
Responding to media coverage of the presentation, the Indian Embassy stated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter):
“We have seen media reports regarding a presentation made by the Defence Attaché at a seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context, and the media reports are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation.”
The embassy emphasized that the presentation was meant to highlight that the Indian Armed Forces operate under civilian political leadership, in contrast to some neighboring countries. It also reiterated that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and that India’s military response remained non-escalatory.
The embassy urged restraint and responsible reporting to avoid misconstruing official statements made in professional forums.
