In his first remarks post Operation Sindoor and cessation of military action by India and Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Thursday targeted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for his remarks that India had informed Pakistan about targeting the terrorist infrastructure on its soil.
Stating that it was “a crime” to inform Pakistan “at the start of our attack”, Gandhi sought to know how many aircraft did the IAF “lose as a result”.
Jaishankar had told reporters Thursday that “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.”
Jaishankar was referring to the call made by Director General of Military Operations Lt General Rajiv Ghai to his Pakistani counterpart Major General Kashif Abdullah after the Indian Armed Forces struck nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir between 1 am and 1.30 am on May 7.
Lt Gen Ghai had told his Pakistani counterpart that India had hit “carefully chosen” terror targets and had not targeted military targets. A message was relayed to Pakistan that if it wanted to talk, India was willing to engage.
Gandhi, in a post on X Saturday, said, “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?”
On May 11, during a media briefing with Director General of Military Operations Lt General Ghai and Navy counterpart Vice Admiral A N Pramod, Director General Air Operation Air Marshal A K Bharti had said he would not like to comment on whether India lost any aircraft in Operation Sindoor due to the prevailing combat situation.
He said losses were part of any combat, and the Indian military had achieved all its selected objectives and all IAF pilots were back home.
