Rahul Gandhi targets EAM Jaishankar, says his silence is 'damning'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a fresh attack on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, saying his silence on the number of aircraft India "lost" after Pakistan was "informed" about the military action under Operation Sindoor is "damning".

The Congress leader had earlier also targeted the government on the issue, suggesting that the Indian side informed Pakistan ahead of the military strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

"EAM Jaishankar's silence isn't just telling, it's damning. So I'll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?" he asked in a post on X.

"This wasn't a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth," Gandhi also said.

Gandhi had earlier shared an undated video clip of Jaishankar and wrote, "Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI (government of India) did it."  "Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result," the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha had asked.

The Ministry of External Affairs had described as "utter misrepresentation" claims that Jaishankar acknowledged that India alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7.

"The external affairs minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor's commencement," the external publicity (XP) division of the ministry said.

"This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out," it said in a brief statement.

Under Operation Sindoor, India, on early May 7, destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) in retaliation against the Pahalgam terror attack.

All subsequent retaliations by Pakistan were carried out under the operation.

The two sides reached an understanding on cessation of hostilities on May 10 after four days of confrontations.