New Delhi:
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said for his claim that informing Pakistan at the beginning of Operation Sindoor was a “crime”, the BJP has accused him of spreading fake news.
The Ministry of External Affairs has also said that a statement being informed by Pakistan was being falsely represented.
On Saturday, Mr. Gandhi took the X and shared a video of S Jaishankar, in which the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that at the beginning of Operation Sindoor, which was done on the night intervening on 6 and 7 May, a message was sent to Pakistan that only the terrorist base was being killed, and not military establishment.
“At the beginning of the operation, we sent a message to Pakistan, stating that we are attacking terrorists infrastructure and we are not strike in the army. So the army has the option to stand out and not interfere in this process. They did not choose that good advice.”
The Congress MP wrote that informing Pakistan at the beginning of the attack was a “crime”.
“Eam (Foreign Minister) has publicly acknowledged that GOI (Government of India) has done so,” Mr. Gandhi said, asking who authorized the sharing of information with Pakistan.
For claims of shooting Indian aircraft during the strike at terrorist bases, Mr. Gandhi also asked: “Many aircraft lost as a result of our Air Force?”
BJP hit
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari came back after less than an hour, examining a fact by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and accused Mr. Gandhi of spreading fake news.
The PIB claimed in a post on Thursday by a journalist, alleging that Mr. Jaishankar had said that India had informed Pakistan before the onset of Operation Sindoor that it would kill the terrorist infrastructure in the country.
The PIB said, “Social media post means that Foreign Minister @drsjaishankar’s statement said that India had informed Pakistan before the start of #OPERATIONSINDOR. EAM is being misunderstood and has not given this statement. He has not given this statement and avoid falling for misleading information.”
Center details
The Ministry of External Affairs also released a statement on Saturday evening and said that the facts are being presented incorrectly.
“The External Affairs Minister had said that we had initially warned Pakistan, which is clearly an early stage after the onset of OP vermilion. It is being incorrectly represented before the beginning.
Operation vermilion
India had killed terrorist bases at at least nine places in Pakistan-Muridke included the headquarters of Lashkar-e-Tabiba and the headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed in Bahawalpur-as part of Operation Sindoor, which was a reaction to terrorist attack on 22 April in Pahgam in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.
Pakistan responded by launching drones and missiles in three days and tried to attack Indian military establishments and civil places, but failed by India’s air defense systems. In turn, India first took out some aerial defense systems of Pakistan, including Lahore, and then all the important military bases such as Noor Khan Airbase, also known as Chakla Airbase.
Pakistan then sought a ceasefire last Saturday and India agreed to give a break in hostility. However, India has made it clear that it will react decisively to any terrorist attack, which originates in Pakistan.
