Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has renewed his attack on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, calling his silence over the number of aircraft reportedly lost during Operation Sindoor “damning.” The criticism follows Jaishankar’s revelation that the Indian government had informed Pakistan at the start of the operation that its target was terrorist infrastructure, not military installations.
Speaking to the media earlier, Jaishankar had said, “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorists’ infrastructure. We are not striking at the military. So the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice.”
Reacting sharply, Rahul Gandhi termed this disclosure “a crime,” demanding accountability and transparency. “This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth,” said the Leader of the Opposition.
Earlier on Saturday, Gandhi questioned the rationale behind the government’s decision to alert Pakistan, asking who authorized the move and whether it led to the loss of Indian Air Force aircraft. “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. 1. Who authorised it? 2. How many aircraft did our Air Force lose as a result?” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Congress leader Pawan Khera echoed Gandhi’s concerns in a press conference, alleging that the government’s decision had compromised the mission. “This is not diplomacy, this is espionage,” Khera said, questioning the nature of the relationship between the External Affairs Minister and Pakistan. He also raised the possibility that key terrorist figures like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed might have escaped due to the advance notice. “The Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister must answer why this was done,” Khera added.
The BJP and the government swiftly rejected Gandhi’s claims, calling them a distortion of facts. BJP spokesperson C.R. Kesavan accused Gandhi of spreading misinformation with “malafide intent.” “Rahul Gandhi’s tweet is downright dishonest, deceptive, and dangerous as he is distorting the truth and misrepresenting facts to malign our armed forces,” Kesavan said, demanding that Gandhi retract his statements and issue an unconditional apology.
In a formal response, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that Jaishankar’s remarks referred to communication made after the operation had commenced, not beforehand. “EAM had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry said.
