‘What’s the Truth, Modi Ji?’: Rahul Gandhi After Trump Claims 5 Jets Shot Down
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday publicly questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump’s latest claim that “five jets were shot down” during the India-Pakistan conflict in May.
The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha took to the social media platform X to demand an answer from the government, escalating the political pressure on the eve of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
“Modi ji, what is the truth about the five jets? The country has the right to know!” Gandhi wrote, sharing a video of Trump making the claim at a White House dinner on Friday. In the video, Trump is heard saying, “planes were being shot out of the air… four or five. But I think five jets were shot down.”
The US President did not specify which country lost the jets but repeated his assertion that he had mediated a ceasefire between the two nuclear-armed nations.
The Congress party has seized on the remarks, demanding a clarification from the Prime Minister in Parliament. “The Prime Minister, who has had years of friendship and huglomacy with President Trump… has to now himself make a clear and categorical statement in Parliament,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
The controversy stems from the May conflict, which began after India launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on May 7 in retaliation for a terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians. A ceasefire was reached on May 10.
While Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for brokering the truce through trade talks, India has consistently denied any third-party mediation. New Delhi has maintained that the understanding was reached through direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, at Islamabad’s request.
There have also been conflicting claims about military losses. Pakistan claimed to have downed three Indian Rafale jets, a claim dismissed as “inaccurate” by both India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, and the CEO of Rafale-maker Dassault Aviation. General Chauhan did, however, admit that India lost an unspecified number of jets in the initial stages of the conflict.
