Operation Sindoor: Rahul Gandhi questions Jaishankar's 'silence', asks how many aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?; BJP's retort

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday again questioned external affairs minister S Jaishankar over Operation Sindoor , asking how many Indian aircraft were lost during the operation.

"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?" Gandhi posted on X while resharing an earlier post of himself.

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. https://t.co/izn4LmBGJZ

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 19, 2025

He added, "This wasn’t a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth."

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded to Rahul's post and calling it "sinister."

"Rahul Gandhi’s daftness is not merely incidental—it is sinister. He is speaking the language of Pakistan," BJP's Amit Malviya said in a post on X.

Rahul Gandhi’s daftness is not merely incidental—it is sinister. He is speaking the language of Pakistan.

For the benefit of India, and to expose the intent of the Leader of the Opposition, I am reposting the statement of DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, dated 11.05.2025:… https://t.co/NBqHRPvdLR pic.twitter.com/UeJ5vj1vzV

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 19, 2025

Gandhi had earlier, on May 17, shared an undated video of Jaishankar where the minister is heard saying that India had warned Pakistan before launching strikes on terror infrastructure.

In that post, Gandhi wrote, "Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it." He also asked, "Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?"

Meanwhile, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) responded to Gandhi’s claim, calling it a "misrepresentation of facts."

The MEA said the government had warned Pakistan in the "early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement" and not before it began.

It clarified that Jaishankar had said, "We had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement." The ministry added, "This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out."

Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.