WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump has once again amplified his claims about last year's India-Pakistan military standoff, now asserting that 11 fighter jets were shot down during the brief but intense conflict - marking the latest escalation in his ever-changing tally of downed aircraft.
Just IN:— Trump now says 11 planes were shot down during India-Pakistan war last year. pic.twitter.com/gUkqludKml
- South Asia Index (@SouthAsiaIndex) April 26, 2026
Speaking at his "Board of Peace" event on Thursday, Trump told the audience: "When it came to losing a lot of money, they said, I guess we don't want to fight... 11 jets were shot down. Very expensive jets..."
The US President has now claimed credit for halting the India-Pakistan conflict more than 80 times since the ceasefire was announced on May 10 last year. However, his specific assertions regarding the number of aircraft lost have shifted dramatically over time - a pattern that has drawn increasing scrutiny .
The Shifting Numbers
Trump's tally of downed jets has followed a curious trajectory:
May 2025 (Initial claim): 4-5 jets shot down
July 2025: 5 jets
August 2025: 7 jets
September-October 2025: "7 brand-new beautiful planes"
November 2025: 8 jets (with one "badly wounded")
February 2026 (early): 10 jets
February 2026 (latest): 11 jets
At no point has Trump specified which country's aircraft he is referring to, leaving the claim conveniently ambiguous .
The Tariff Threat Narrative
Trump has consistently paired his aircraft claims with the assertion that he ended the conflict by threatening both nations with a 200% tariff, leveraging ongoing trade negotiations as his primary deterrent.
"I said, 'If you fight, I'm going to put 200 per cent tariffs on each of your countries'," Trump recounted at the event. "They both wanted to fight. But when it came to money, nothing like money. When it came to losing a lot of money, they said, 'I guess we don't want to fight'... and all of a sudden, we worked out a deal" .
During his Board of Peace remarks, Trump also claimed that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had credited him with saving "25 million lives" - up from his previous assertion that Sharif had said "10 million lives" were saved .
India's Firm Rejection
New Delhi has consistently and categorically rejected Trump's version of events. The Ministry of External Affairs has repeatedly stated that the ceasefire between India and Pakistan was achieved through direct military communication between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries - not through any third-party mediation .
"India's position remains unchanged - all issues with Pakistan are to be resolved bilaterally, without any third-party involvement," the MEA has reiterated on multiple occasions .
Conflicting Narratives on Losses
The lack of independent verification has allowed both sides to advance competing claims. Pakistan has asserted that its Chinese-supplied J-10C fighters shot down six Indian aircraft, including Rafales, a MiG-29, and a Su-30MKI . India's defence chief, General Anil Chauhan, has called these claims "absolutely incorrect," though he did appear to confirm that India had lost an unspecified number of aircraft, telling Bloomberg: "The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, and rectify it" .
Media outlets including Reuters, BBC Verify, and AFP have found that several widely shared videos and images purporting to show downed aircraft were recycled or miscaptioned, with no neutral access to wreckage to confirm either side's claims .
Trump's Growing List of "Stopped Wars"
During his Board of Peace address, Trump claimed he had ended eight wars in his first year back in the White House, including conflicts involving Kosovo and Serbia, and Congo and Rwanda. "Pakistan and India - that was a big one," he said .
But as his number of claimed downed jets continues to climb without any supporting evidence, critics have pointed to the pattern as emblematic of the President's broader approach to foreign policy achievements.
An Indian analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up the sentiment in New Delhi: "The number changes every time he speaks. First it was four, then seven, then eight, then ten, now eleven. Tomorrow it will be fifteen. There is no fact-checking - only headlines."
