Rahul targets Jaishankar again, says his silence is ‘damning’; BJP hits back

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha 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 BJP hit back, accusing Gandhi of speaking the “language of Pakistan” and asking whether the Congress party was truly serious about supporting the nation.

Gandhi had earlier also targeted Jaishankar 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).

However, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had described Gandhi’s claims that Jaishankar acknowledged India having alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7 as “utter misrepresentation”.

“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.

The Congress leader 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 Congress leader asked.

“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.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi attacked Gandhi saying he misquoted the MEA.

“Rahul Gandhi seems to have learned nothing from his past mistakes. He continues to disrespect the Nation’s Armed Forces by questioning how many jets were lost — despite clear statements from the IAF and MEA confirming there were no asset losses.

“He misquotes the MEA, even though the DGMO clarified in his May 11 briefing that India had made efforts to communicate with its counterparts. Is the Congress party truly serious about supporting the nation? Their actions suggest otherwise,” Joshi said in a post on X.

BJP IT Department head Amit Malviya said in a post on X, “Rahul Gandhi’s daftness is not merely incidental. It is sinister. Rahul Gandhi must desist from distorting facts. India knows who he truly speaks for,” he added.

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that the Congress leader’s comments mirrored Pakistan’s propaganda.

“Rahul Gandhi’s ignorance isn’t just random – it’s dangerous,” he said, accusing Gandhi of toeing a “pro-Pakistan line”.

“The deliberate twisting of facts by Rahul Gandhi is not a slip. It’s a calculated move to feed a hostile narrative. When India stands united against terror, he chooses to sow confusion and Pakistan celebrates it,” he added.

“Rahul isn’t clueless. He’s complicit. India deserves better than a China-Pak spokesperson as Leader of Opposition,” Bhandari said in another post on X.

Chairman of AICC Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said Rahul Gandhi has asked some questions on the statement of the external affairs minister. This becomes very important because, in the last week, US President Donald Trump has been repeating in different countries that he mediated to stop the war, he said.

Khera said the statement of the external affairs minister is sensitive because it seems that the terrorists must have fled from their hideouts.

“Prime Minister Modi and the Foreign Minister will have to answer why this was done,” he asked.

“The government should answer how many aircraft did the country lose? What losses did the country suffer? How many terrorists escaped?” he asked.

Khera alleged that the BJP is doing petty politics on issues of national interest and thinks the opposition will remain silent and will not ask questions related to the security of the country.

“We will keep asking questions and if we do not ask, terrorist incidents will continue to take place in the country,” he noted.

“We do not know what secrets America and China have about PM Modi, Foreign Minister and BJP leaders, because they never speak in front of America and China. Whenever the PM speaks, it is to give a clean chit,” Khera said.

“The entire country and the world knows what China’s role was in this war and America itself is boasting about its role in stopping this war, but Jaishankar ji does not speak,” the Congress leader said.

Khera said Jaishankar himself told the media that they had informed Pakistan before launching the attack.

“Now what does this informing mean? Does the Foreign Minister have so much trust in Pakistan that the terrorists will sit quietly at his command? What is the relationship of the Foreign Minister and why did he inform Pakistan before the attack?

“In fact, this is not diplomacy but spying. Everyone heard what the foreign minister said—yet it is being covered up. Was it because of this information that Masood Azhar survived and Hafiz Saeed escaped alive? Doesn’t the country have the right to know...,” he said.

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