Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, tore into the Centre’s claim over Operation Sindoor on Tuesday. The former Congress president accused the Centre of imposing restrictions on the armed forces during Operation Sindoor by instructing them not to target Pakistani military infrastructures. “When these were the instructions, naturally, your jets will be downed,” said Rahul. He also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to refute US President Donald Trump’s claim of ensuring a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Here are the highlights of Rahul Gandhi’s speech
1) Rahul said that whenever he shakes hands with a member of the armed forces, he feels that this man cannot be scared or intimidated.
“For political work, we travel all over the country. Whenever we meet a person from the Forces, a mere handshake tells you he is from the Forces. The handshake will tell you this man can’t be shaken, can’t be intimidated, can’t be bent. But a tiger needs full freedom. If you want to use the Forces to their optimum, you need political will and the will to give them full freedom,” said Rahul.
2) Referring to the 1971 war, when the US sent its 7th fleet to deter India from continuing the war with Pakistan, Rahul said that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gave full freedom to the armed forces despite the pressure from the US.
“Rajnath Singh spoke of the 1971 war. I want to remind him, too. Then the 7th fleet was coming to the Indian Ocean, and the PM of the time (Indira Gandhi) told them (the US), ‘Come if you want, but we will do our part’ That was political will,” said Rahul.
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“General Manecshaw told the PM that he will not do the operation in the summer, that he wants 6 months. The then PM gave him that freedom. As a result, nearly 1 lakh Pakistani soldiers surrendered and a new nation was born,” he added.
3) Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech in the Rajya Sabha, Rahul asked how can the Indian authorities can convey to Pakistan that their military installation would not be targeted.
“Rajnath Singh ji said that Operation Sindoor lasted 22 minutes, and after that it the Indian DGMO informed his Pakistani counterpart at 1.35 AM. The Defence Minister doesn’t realise what he has revealed. You are saying you attacked a country and then called them and told them what all you won’t hit and what you will,” said Rahu.
“Rajnath ji also said that we informed the Pakistanis that we won’t hit any of their military infrastructure. This is why I talked about the freedom to manoeuvre…. You told our pilots to go to Pakistan but don’t attack their military bases, but their military could hit you back…. These were the political constraints that the defence attaché spoke about,” he added.
4) As for the question over Indian fighter jets being downed during Operation Sindoor, Rahul said that the Indian Air Force was not at fault, but it was the government’s mistake.
“When these were the instructions, naturally, your jets will be downed. Anil Chauhan ji (the CDS) also said it was not a question of how many jets fell but what we achieved. The fact is that the Indian Air Force made no mistakes; the mistakes were made by the government because it tied their hands at their backs. The Indian Air Force can’t be blamed at all, it was the government’s mistake. Why did you inform the Pakistan DGMO at 1.35 what you are doing?” added Rahul.
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5) Rahul also asked the Prime Minister to refute US President Donald Trump’s claim of engineering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan in the House.
“Donald Trump has said 29 times that he got the ceasefire done. If he is lying, let the PM come to the House; if he has the guts and the courage of Indira Gandhi, let him come to this House and make a statement that Donald Trump is lying. Even if you have 50 per cent of Indira Gandhi’s courage, you will say Trump is lying, Trump was not behind the ceasefire. Let him come and say here this evening that Donald Trump is a liar,” said Rahul.
6) Taking potshots at External Affairs Minister S’Jaishankar’s claims of the international community condemning the Pahalgam terror attack, Rahul said that the Union Minister has not said that not a single country has condemned Pakistan.
“There is a new thing these days – new normal. The External Affairs minister uses it often. The external affairs minister said that many countries condemned terrorism. It is absolutely right. What the minister has not said is that not a single country has condemned Pakistan,” said Rahul.
“This External Affairs Minister amazes me. He says we have deterred Pakistan. Have you? The man behind Pahalgam is a man called Asim Munir, and he is sitting in the White House, having lunch with the US President. What are we doing?” he added.
7) Rahul took another swipe at Jaishankar over Trump’s comment that he wanted to thank Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir.
“The President of the US says the reason he (Munir) was here was because “I wanted to thank him”. Wow, this was the man responsible for Pahalgam. Which planet is the foreign minister (Jaishankar) sitting on? This is the new normal?” said Rahul.
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8) Rahul questioned the Centre’s announcement that any terror attack on India will be treated as an act of war, arguing that this lets the terrorists decide when the country will be at war.
“Another new normal. The PM says any terror attack now will be treated as an act of war. This means now any terrorist can come and attack, and you will be at war. You have empowered your enemies to decide when they want you to be at war. You have turned the whole concept of deterrence on its head. This government is clueless about what deterrence means,” said Rahul.
9) Rahul said that if the Government had listened to his earlier warning on military collaboration between China and Pakistan, India would not have lost fighter jets during Operation Sindoor.
“Today, you have fused Pakistan and China. When I warned about this earlier, you all laughed at me. Today the two are fused together…. the entire operation (Sindoor), it was the Chinese who were feeding critical information to the Pakistanis… if you had listened to me back then and said yes, the Chinese and Pakistanis are fused, you wouldn’t have lost those jets,” said Rahul.
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10) Rahul said that now India is facing China and Pakistan fused as one military.
“The foreign affairs minister is talking about a two-front war. He doesn’t even understand the basics of warfare. The two-front war concept is long gone. Today, it is a unified command; that’s what’s happened with Pakistan and China. Pakistani officers have been embedded with the PLA. Now we are not just facing China and Pakistan fused as 1 military,” he added.
11) Rahul said that if the Prime Minister uses the armed forces for political gains, then it would be dangerous for the country.
“It is dangerous for the country for the PM to use the Forces politically,” he added.
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12) Pointing out that Jaishankar did not mention China during his speech in Lok Sabha, Rahul alleged that this shows the complete bankruptcy of India’s foreign policy.
“The external affairs minister said something that shows the complete bankruptcy of our foreign policy today. This explains why in his entire discussion of an hour yesterday, he did not say a word on China,” said Rahul.
Rahul quoted Jaishankar’s infamous “China is the bigger economy” to say, “This shows we are scared of China”. Rahul added that this is also why the PM doesn’t have the guts to stand up to the US President and say ‘You are lying.’