London, Feb. 25 -- The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a leading London-based authority on military, political and security matters, thinks the India-Pakistan military stand-off in May last year, Operation Sindoor as it is known in India, "may have been the world's longest beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air engagement to date". BVR refers to the use of aircraft to launch rockets or missiles targetting flying objects far away, usually invisible to the naked eye.

The statement is from IISS's Military Balance 2026 report, a voluminous annual publication, which was released on February 24. This also presented analysis claiming that the Indian Air Force may have lost a Rafale combat aircraft on May 7, 2024 in Operation...