Pakistan did not stop passenger aircrafts while launching military drones, says DGMO

India-Pakistan tensions: India's Directorate Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) in a press conference on Sunday, May 11, said that Pakistan did not stop its passenger and civilian aircraft while launching its military drone attack against India. The three DGMOs divulged details about Operation Sindoor. 

According to Air Marshal's AK Bharti, the Director General Air Operations, the the Pakistani drone attacks on the night of May 8, 2025, originated from somewhere close to Lahore, the country's second largest city.  Not just Pakistani airliners, but also international aircraft operators were given permission to fly out of the nation, he said.

“I would like to bring out another aspect, what we found that while the drone attacks were being launched from somewhere close to Lahore, the enemy had allowed his civilian aircraft to continue to fly out of Lahore. Not only his own aircraft but also international passenger aircraft,” said Air Marshal Bharti in the media briefing. 

The DGMO called this act “quite insensitive” from Pakistan's part. In response to this move, Indian Air Force used extreme caution to make sure that no commercial airliner is harmed in between the clash of the two neighbouring nations.

“Which is quite insensitive, and we had to exercise extreme caution, even at the cost of some tactical disadvantage, to ensure there is no damage to any of the civilian aircraft,” said Air Marshal Bharti in his media address.

Pakistan's drone attack on May 8

Pakistan carried out an aerial drone attack on India on May 8, after Operation Sindoor was successfully carried out on May 7, 2025. He also acknowledged that the drone attack on May 8 was comparatively less on the arms front, and more UAVs for a likely surveillance exercise. 

“The difference between the night of May 7 and 8th was that earlier they sent in their UAVs, however, on the second day, less number of UAVs were there and more number of quadcopters, maybe for surveillance or for harassment of civilians,” said the Air Marshal in his media address on Sunday, May 11.

He also reiterated that India's air defence systems made sure that there was no damage to the ground or to the military and civilian installations in India amid the ongoing Pakistan attack.

“This continued till midnight. Our air defence systems ensured that there was no damage on the ground, either to the military installations or to the civilians,” said Air Marshal Bharti.

Pakistan officially opened up their airspace for all aircraft moments after both nations announced a de-escalation agreement on Saturday, May 10. However, hours later, Pakistan reportedly breached its ceasefire agreement as blasts were heard and projectiles were seen in the Jammu & Kashmir border region.

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