In the hours since India struck targets inside Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir it identified as terrorist havens under its Operation Sindoor, the exchange of fire between the two countries's militaries has intensified. The increase in the intensity has not only affected daily life for the people living in the border areas but also civilian air traffic passing over much of the Indian subcontinent.

Several domestic Indian airlines and international carriers have made official announcements that they are cancelling flights over routes that can’t avoid paths over the Indian subcontinent region. While reports of up to five Indian air force fighter aircraft going down during or after India’s strikes against Pakistan have been cited by international news outlets such as Reuters and CNN these reports are based only on confirmation by unnamed Pakistani officials. 

During a press briefing led by the country's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Col. Sofia Quereshi from the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh from the Indian Air Force while India confirmed the exact targets it had struck with precision weaponry, no questions were taken. Misri said that the situation was developing and that there would be further briefing.

No Indian authorities have responded to media inquiries about any aircraft or equipment losses during or after Operation Sindoor. Several images including those published by Reuters, PTI and AFP showing the wreckage of what is likely either an external fuel tank jettisoned by a fighter aircraft in flight or part of the wreckage of an unidentified crashed fighter aircraft on the Indian side of the Line of Control(LOC) has further increased the chances for escalation between Islamabad and New Delhi.

While India and Pakistan are both nuclear armed nations, India has a more survivable nuclear deterrent in the form of its nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines of the Arihant class which carry K-15 Sagarika missiles able to launch strikes anywhere inside Pakistan while the submarines are submerged and operating quietly somewhere in the Arabian Sea region.