Foreign Secretary clarifies Jaishankar’s Operation Sindoor statement amid Rahul Gandhi’s criticism
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, while addressing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on Monday, said that EAM S. Jaishankar’s comments regarding Operation Sindoor were misrepresented, sources revealed.
Misri’s remarks follow sharp criticism from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who shared a video clip of Jaishankar’s statement, alleging that India had informed Pakistan before launching retaliatory strikes on terror bases across the border.
Responding to a question raised during the meeting, Misri clarified that “India informed Pakistan after the initial phase of the operation had commenced,” not before. He asserted that Jaishankar’s statement was taken out of context and misused in political discourse.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier posted the undated video of Jaishankar, accusing him and the Modi government of compromising national security. “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime,” Gandhi said in a post on X, demanding answers on the number of aircraft lost during the operation.
He reiterated his stance on Monday, calling Jaishankar’s “silence” on the matter “damning” and again asked, “How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?”
In response, BJP leaders defended the government’s conduct, calling Gandhi’s remarks irresponsible and damaging to India’s strategic interests. BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya shared a clip from a press briefing during Operation Sindoor, where Air Marshal A.K. Bharti stated:
“We are in a combat scenario, and losses are a part of it. The question is: have we achieved our objective? The answer is a thumping yes… We would not like to comment further as revealing details could benefit the adversary.”
Malviya slammed Gandhi, saying his repeated questioning was “serving Pakistan’s narrative.”
Operation Sindoor refers to India’s retaliatory precision strikes on nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and PoK following a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians. Targets included key Pakistani air bases in Chakwal, Rawalpindi, and Kasur, among others. The strikes are believed to have neutralized key aides of JeM chief Masood Azhar.
