India’s opposition accuses government of alerting Pakistan before airstrikes
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi questions foreign minister’s remarks on Operation Sindoor, says he breached operational secrecy
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has sharply criticized the Narendra Modi government over remarks by the country’s foreign minister suggesting that Pakistan was alerted ahead of Indian airstrikes during Operation Sindoor, a recent military offensive allegedly targeting militant infrastructure.
In a post on social media platform X, Gandhi accused External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of compromising national security. “EAM Jaishankar’s silence on ‘informing’ Pakistan isn’t just telling — it is damning,” Gandhi wrote. “How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew? This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves to know.”
The Congress party leader was referring to a video clip in which Jaishankar says, “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, ‘We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.’” He adds that Pakistan’s military was given the option to “stand out and not interfere,” but it “chose not to take that good advice.”
Gandhi, a former president of the Indian National Congress and now Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, has repeatedly pressed the government to clarify who authorized the communication and what impact it may have had on Indian military assets. “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?” he asked in an earlier post.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, also demanded clarity. “We need to know if this forewarning helped Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar escape before the attack,” he said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded by stating that Jaishankar’s remarks were being “falsely represented.” A government spokesperson clarified that the warning to Pakistan occurred after the operation had begun, not before. “This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) — the official media arm of the Indian government — also weighed in. Its Fact Check Unit posted on X, claiming that the foreign minister was being misquoted and that misinformation was being spread about the timeline of the communication.
The political row has erupted as India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks to highlight its national security credentials ahead of upcoming state elections, while the opposition continues to press for greater transparency over military operations conducted in the name of counterterrorism.
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