Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Modi government of lacking “100 percent political will” as well as failing to provide “freedom of operation” to the armed forces when it decided to attack terrorist targets in PoK and Pakistan under Operation Sindoor.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on Operation Sindoor, Gandhi also sought to corner the government on the issue of downing of Indian jets during the attack on Pakistan in May and said the pilots were told not to target Pakistani air defence systems.
“You went into Pakistan, and you told our pilots not to attack their air defence. It was bound that the aircraft would be downed. You tied the hands of our pilots…,” he alleged.
He said the Modi government lacked “100 percent political will” and it did not provide full “freedom of operation” to the armed forces when it decided to attack terrorist targets in PoK and Pakistan as part of its response to the Pahalgam attack in which terrorists targeted tourists at Baisaran Valley.
“I was listening to Rajnath Singh. I listen to people carefully. The Defence Minister said that Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 am and it lasted 22 minutes. Then he said the most shocking thing. He said that ‘we called Pakistan at 1:35 am and told them that we do not want to escalate, and we targeted only non-military targets’. Maybe he doesn’t know what he revealed. You told Pakistanis what you will do…” Rahul said in the lower house of Parliament.
“The Government of India informed the Government of Pakistan that we have no political will, we don’t want to fight. We have simply carried out this action. Surrender was demanded, an immediate surrender within 30 minutes,” he added.
On the issue of Indian jets lost in the attack on Pakistan, Gandhi said this happened because of the restrictions placed by the political leadership on not targeting military infrastructure in Pakistan during the first attack.
“Rajnath Singh also stated that they informed the Pakistanis that we would not target any of their military infrastructure. This is a very interesting fact. I spoke about freedom of manoeuvre, meaning giving the Air Force full operational freedom. Captain Shiv Kumar, Defence Attaché in Indonesia, said, ‘I may not agree with the claim that India lost so many aircraft, but I do agree that we did lose some.’
“And that happened only because of the constraint placed by the political leadership, not to attack Pakistan’s military establishments or their air defence systems. In other words, we went into Pakistan, launched an attack, and told our pilots not to target their air defence systems,” Gandhi told the Lok Sabha.
He added, “CDS Anil Chauhan said that what was important was not that the jets were downed, but why they were downed. He then asked, what mistakes were made? The good part, he said, was that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes, and remedy and rectify them. I want to tell CDS Anil Chauhan that the Indian Air Force made no mistake. The mistake was made by the political leadership, which said military targets could not be attacked.”
The Congress leader also hit out at External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh’s remarks that they had “deterred Pakistan”.
“Really? The man who did terrorism in India, Asim Munir, was invited by President (Donald) Trump to the White House, where even Prime Minister Modi cannot go. President Trump said that the reason he (Asim Munir) is because I wanted to thank him. Thank him for what? For spreading terrorism… I want to ask the EAM on which planet you are sitting? Please come down…”