BAGH, AJK (MNN); Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that a recent US report confirming Pakistan’s downing of Indian aircraft served as formal recognition of the country’s military capability.
He made these remarks while performing the foundation-laying of a Danish School in Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The prime minister said the report submitted to the US Congress had “endorsed” Pakistan’s stance regarding the May conflict, adding that “India received a sharp blow from Pakistan’s armed forces”. He said Allah had honoured Pakistan through the courage of its soldiers.
According to the report presented to the US Congress, Pakistan achieved “military success over India” in the four-day war in May, using Chinese-made weaponry to down Indian jets, including French Rafales.
PM Shehbaz claimed that the Pakistan Air Force and army compelled India “to its knees within four days”, adding that former US president Donald Trump’s repeated praise of Pakistan further reflected that battlefield performance.
Turning to education, he said Danish Schools were transforming opportunities for children. Students received free education, boarding, uniforms and full support on merit.
He announced that the Bagh campus would be inaugurated on March 23, 2026, and added that approval for another Danish School in Forward Kahuta was also expected soon.
The Pakistan–India confrontation erupted after India launched strikes inside Pakistan following a deadly attack that killed 26 people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam area.
The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission report, which examines US-China security and foreign affairs, highlighted expanding defence ties between Islamabad and Beijing.
It noted that Pakistan used advanced Chinese systems — including the HQ-9 air-defence system, PL-15 missiles and J-10C fighters — in active combat for the first time.
Pakistan says the PAF downed seven Indian aircraft, including Rafales, during the clashes — a development the report said later became a key “selling point” for Chinese defence exports.
The report also mentioned China’s June offer to supply Pakistan with 40 J-35 fifth-generation fighter jets, KJ-500 surveillance aircraft and ballistic missile defence systems.
The document further noted that both countries struck targets deeper inside each other’s territories “than at any point in the past 50 years”.
India’s missile strikes on the night of May 5 and 6 — which New Delhi claimed targeted terrorists — resulted in civilian and security personnel casualties. Pakistan responded with Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, hitting over 20 Indian military sites. The PAF also used JF-17 Thunder jets armed with hypersonic missiles to destroy India’s S-400 system in Adampur.
The clashes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours ended on May 10 following a ceasefire brokered by the United States.
