Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi believes that he has caught External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the wrong foot, after the latter said the Government of India had told Pakistan at the “start” of the operations that only terrorist infrastructure was the target and not the civilian or military installations.
“Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorized it? How many aircrafts did our air force lose as a result?” Gandhi asked on ‘X’ on Saturday and followed it up on Monday, while questioning the “silence” of the Foreign Minister.
“EAM Jaishankar’s silence isn’t 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”.
The BJP has clarified that the Foreign Minister specifically said at the “start” and not “before”. He can be heard clearly saying, "The message was sent at the “start”.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged, “This is not diplomacy but spying and treason and betrayal,” that Pakistan was informed. He said this advance information helped dreaded terrorists like Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar to escape, as both of them were not present in their respective places when the strikes took place.
The Congress obviously appears to make an issue out of nothing. Jaishankar is clearly heard saying that the message was sent at the “start” and not “before” the start of the operations. In fact, no country can be so naïve to inform the other country that it was going to attack it.
There was a reason for Jaishankar to make this statement. He apparently sought to clarify that the purpose of the strikes was only to hit the terror base inside Pakistan and not the military or civilian installations. Pakistan, in any case, retaliated and hit civilian areas killing about 15 people in attacks in the Poonch area.
Messaging is an important aspect of diplomacy and more so during hostilities. The Government of India has consistently maintained that its aim was not to escalate any hostilities at the military level and had restricted the operations to specific terrorist bases at nine places across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. The country maintained the same position after the strikes.
However, once the Pakistan army hit the civilian targets in border areas and along the Line of Control, India also retaliated and damaged and destroyed huge military infrastructure in Pakistan as the evidence has started pouring in now.
Also read: Playing with fire: Hyderabad tragedy exposes chinks in system
Should the Congress have gone public on Jaishankar’s statement even describing him as a “spy” and a “traitor”? There is absolutely nothing wrong with his statement. Khera’s suggestion that it is “not diplomacy but treason and betrayal” does not really hold much ground.
In all likelihood, the Congress leaders should know that there was nothing objectionable in Jaishankar’s statement, which of course, was aimed at making an important diplomatic point that India was clear right for the start of the operations that these were aimed at targeting the terrorist bases only.
This might be a well-thought part and parcel of the Congress strategy to make the government feel defensive about Operation Sindoor. Every day, the Congress has been coming out with a new issue to target the government. The aim is quite obvious - to deny any possible advantage to the ruling party, particularly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the action the government took against terrorism in Pakistan.
While other things may be debatable, one thing, for sure, is certain that India hit the terror bases across Pakistan and POK with brilliant precision. The terror infrastructure was destroyed at all the places, particularly Bahawalpur where Jaish-e-Mohammad headquarters were destroyed and Muridke where Lashkar-e-Taiba headquarter was razed to ground, besides killing several trained and under-training militants.
Subsequent collateral damage, if any, is quite natural. The Congress should accept the fact that what was aimed was achieved. Wasn’t it the Congress, which was seeking action in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack? Didn’t Rahul Gandhi say, everybody knows from where the terrorists came? Didn’t the entire Congress leadership say that it stood by the government in whatever action it deems fit to take against Pakistan?
And when the government took a decisive action, destroying the terror bases, the Congress has been nitpicking and finding faults where none exists. Somehow, the Congress wants to convince the countrymen that Operation Sindoor was not a success but a failure, to put Prime Minister Modi and his government on the defensive. For that, the party should better choose something else, as the government will provide them with so many issues and opportunities where it can be cornered.
Follow us
