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NEW DELHI: India shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other military aircraft during clashes in May, India’s air force chief said on Saturday, the first such statement by the country months after its worst military conflict in decades with its neighbor.

Most of the Pakistani aircraft were downed by India’s Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Indian Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh said at an event in the southern city of Bengaluru. He cited electronic tracking data as confirmation of the strikes.

“We have at least five fighters confirmed killed, and one large aircraft,” he said, adding that the large aircraft, which could be a surveillance plane, was shot down at a distance of 300 km (186 miles).

“This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill,” he said, prompting applause from the crowd that included serving air force officers, veterans, and government and industry officials.

Pakistan’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Singh did not mention the type of fighter jets that were downed.

Islamabad, whose air force primarily operates Chinese-made jets and US F-16s, has previously denied that India downed any Pakistani aircraft during the May 7-10 fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Pakistan has claimed that it shot down six Indian aircraft during the clashes, including a French-made Rafale fighter. India has acknowledged some losses but denied losing six aircraft.

France’s air chief, General Jerome Bellanger, has previously said that he has seen evidence of the loss of three Indian fighters, including a Rafale. Indian Air Force has not commented on the claims.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has seen an increase of 3.08 percent on a week-on-week basis, a Karachi-based market research firm said on Friday.

The market this week crossed the 140,000-point barrier and closed the weekend session at 145,382.79 points on Friday, according to the PSX website.

The average daily traded volume and value during the week stood at 653 million shares and Rs47 billion ($165 million), respectively.

“This gain can be largely be attributed to buying by mutual funds on inflow of funds as equities performance continue to outshine other asset classes,” Karachi-based Topline Securities said in its weekly review.

Pakistan trade deficit for July clocked in at $2.8 billion, up by 44 percent year on year, according to the report. The country recorded remittance inflows of $3.2 billion last month, down 6 percent month on month and up 7 percent year on year.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by $72 million on a weekly basis to reach $14.2 billion as of August 1, the central bank reported on Thursday.