Pakistan, May 9 -- In the wake of India's recent missile strikes on Pakistan-targeting nine sites, including mosques and civilian infrastructure-the balance of power in South Asia has been dramatically disrupted. While Indian media boasted of its precision strikes, an alternative and far more consequential narrative emerged from within India itself. Eyewitnesses, social media users, and independent sources reported the downing of five Indian fighter jets, including three Rafale aircraft-France's most advanced export fighters, considered the pride of the Indian Air Force.

If confirmed through independent validation, the loss of these highly sophisticated jets would constitute a military and symbolic setback far greater than the one India ...