Days after Rahul Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s statement regarding India informing Pakistan about its retaliatory strikes before they took place, and calling Jaishankar’s silence on the matter “damning,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday clarified that the EAM’s remarks on ‘Operation Sindoor’ had been “taken out of context.”According to a News 18 report, citing sources, Misri made this statement during a briefing on ‘Operation Sindoor’ and its success to the members of the Standing Committee on External Affairs.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADDuring the briefing, a committee member raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s tweet regarding a media clip of Jaishankar’s statement on ‘Operation Sindoor.’In the tweet, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha alleged that the Government of India had informed Pakistan about its retaliatory strikes before they were carried out.More from India
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This Week in Explainers: After Pakistan, why India has to be wary of TurkeyIn response, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told the members that Jaishankar’s statements had been “taken out of context.”“The fact is that India had informed Pakistan about the precise strikes after the initial phase of its commencement,” Misri is learnt to have told the attendees of the meeting, according to sources.Misri also told the parliamentary committee that the conflict between India and Pakistan was always in the conventional domain, and there was no nuclear signalling by the neighbouring country, PTI reported, citing sources.The sources said Misri reiterated the government’s stand that the decision to stop military actions was taken at a bilateral level, as some opposition members questioned US President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions about his administration’s role in stopping the conflict.The standing committee meeting was attended by several prominent figures, including Shashi Tharoor, Sagarika Ghosh, Abhishek Banerjee, Satnam Singh Sandhu, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Asaduddin Owaisi, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Naveen Jindal, Praniti Shinde, Rajeev Shukla, Deepender Hooda, Aparajita Sarangi, Arun Govil, AD Singh, Mitesh Patel, Arvind Sawant, and John Brittas.The controversy involving Rahul Gandhi who questioned EAM Jaishankar’s statement on ‘Operation Sindoor’ erupted when the EAM addressed the media last week, saying, “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. So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice.”STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADSharing the video on X, Rahul Gandhi alleged that 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 Congress leader questioned.Earlier in the day today, Rahul Gandhi doubled down on his statement and launched another attack on the EAM, calling his “silence” on the issue “damning.”“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? This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth,” he posted on X.In response, the BJP shared a video of a joint press briefing by top Indian armed forces officials, in which a journalist asked the same question. Air Marshal AK Bharti responded, explaining that revealing such details “could give an advantage to the adversary.”STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD“We are in a combat scenario. The question is: have we achieved our objective? The answer is a thumping yes. As for the details, I would not like to comment at this time, as we are still in combat, and revealing such information could give an advantage to the adversary. All our pilots are back home,” Air Marshal Bharti had stated.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADBJP leader Amit Malviya also targeted Rahul Gandhi, claiming his repeated questioning about the number of Indian fighter jets downed during the operation, which is currently paused, is advancing Pakistan’s narrative.“Pakistan — and those who supply weapons to it — would be delighted by Rahul Gandhi’s dogged persistence in serving their narrative,” Malviya said.With inputs from agenciesTagsIndiaPakistanEnd of Article
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