Srinagar: Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday questioned the Centre’s handling of Operation Sindoor, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi must tell the US President Donald Trump that he lied about mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack.
Addressing the Lok Sabha, Rahul alleged that the operation was driven more by political image management than national security. He claimed the armed forces were restricted from targeting Pakistan’s military infrastructure during the action.
Gandhi said the Indian armed forces informed Pakistan that there was no political intent to escalate the conflict. He claimed that the political leadership had directed the forces not to hit Pakistan’s air defence or military installations, which he alleged led to the loss of Indian aircraft.
“We went into Pakistan, launched an attack, and told our pilots not to target their air defence systems,” the Congress leader said.
Referring to a statement by Defence Attaché Captain Shiv Kumar, Gandhi said, “He may not agree with the number of aircraft lost, but he agrees some were lost — because of the political directive not to strike military targets.”
Quoting Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan, who had said it was important to understand why the aircraft were downed, Rahul said the Air Force made no mistake. “The mistake was made by the political leadership, which said military targets could not be attacked,” he added.
He claimed the operation’s main objective was to protect the Prime Minister’s image. “His hands are stained with the blood of those killed in Pahalgam. He used the Air Force to safeguard his public image,” Gandhi said in the House.
Rahul also questioned the government’s narrative of success, saying, “The operation is still ongoing, yet victory has already been declared. The new normal now is that any act of terror is treated as an act of war. This gives terrorists control — they can provoke war by attacking.”
Referring to comments by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the LoP said the government had informed Pakistan that India would not attack their military infrastructure. “This means we demanded surrender within 30 minutes and, at the same time, reassured Pakistan we would not escalate,” he said.
Gandhi questioned India’s foreign policy direction, saying the real failure was the inability to keep Pakistan and China apart. “A few days ago, I said our biggest foreign policy challenge was to prevent a China-Pakistan alignment. But we failed,” he said.
He also issued a direct challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Donald Trump’s claim that he helped broker a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. “Trump has said 29 times that he brokered the ceasefire. If that’s false, let the Prime Minister say here: Donald Trump, you are lying,” Gandhi said.
Rahul also questioned Trump’s meeting with Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir. “The man behind the Pahalgam attack is having lunch with Trump, while our Prime Minister is silent. Trump said he thanked Munir. Thanked him for what?” he asked.
He said the External Affairs Minister and Defence Minister had claimed India deterred Pakistan, but asked, “If that’s true, why is the man who did terrorism in India being honoured in Washington, while our Prime Minister is not even present?”
