Congress leader Rahul Gandhi threw the Indian government for his handling of Operation Sindoor and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of launching the military campaign against Pakistan solely to protect his image. He described the operation as ending in an “instant surrender” after only 30 minutes of action.
Pakistan and India fought for an intense four-day war in May that left more than 70 people died before US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between the nuclear armed neighbors.
The conflict was caused by an April attack on tourists in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which left 26 dead, mostly Hindus. India accused Pakistan of supporting attackers without evidence, an accused Islamabad refused.
During a debate in the Indian Parliament on Tuesday, the Gandhi government paralyzed the way it performed the operation, specifically targeted Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
“Rajnath Singh said Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 in the morning, and then he said it only lasted 22 minutes. The most shocking revelation came when he said we at 1:35 called Pakistan and informed them that we had hit non-military goals and that we did not want escalation,” he said, “he said, and quoted the defense minister’s declarations.
“India’s DGMO was instructed by the government to ask for a ceasefire at 1:35 am at night by Operation Sindoor,” added Gandhi. He accused the Indian government of a lack of political will and claimed that the request for a ceasefire constituted an “immediate surrender of 30 minutes.”
He also claimed that the goal of the operation was to protect the Prime Minister’s image. “The prime minister has the blood of the people of Pahagam on his hands. The goal of the exercise was to make sure he used the air defense to protect his image,” Gandhi declared.
The Congress Leader also criticized Modi for denying Trump’s repeated claims that he had successfully conveyed a ceasefire. “If he is lying, the prime minister in his speech must say that Donald Trump is lying. If he has the courage, like Indira Gandhi, he should say, ‘Donald Trump, you’re a liar,'” he demanded.
Gandhi pointed out that no country condemned Pakistan after the events of Pahaldam despite widespread condemnation of terrorism. “All countries have condemned terrorism. Absolutely, 100% correct. But after Pahaldam condemned no land Pakistan. Not a single country condemned Pakistan,” he said.
The congress leader also slammed the Indian government to claim that it had deterred Pakistan, pointing out that Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir had lunch with the US president.
“Our prime minister can’t go there. Has the Prime Minister said anything? Mr. Trump invites General Munir to his office. While these people are running around and telling the world that Pakistan supports terrorism, the United States eats lunch with the man responsible for Pahalgam and organizes ways of fighting terrorism,” he added.
Gandhi further criticized the government’s attitude towards military cooperation with reference to the Central and South Asia commanders of the defense meeting held in Pakistan, which included senior military leadership from the United States, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzistan, Tadsjikistan and Uzbekistan.
He also mocked the government’s response to terrorism and referred sarcastically to a statement made at the end of Operation Sindoor that any act of terror would be considered a war of war. “What this statement says is that all that a terrorist is going to do is an attack and India will be in war. You have given terrorists the power to start a war. You have turned deterrence upside down,” he said.
The congress leader also questioned the government’s foreign policy and accused it of undermining the primary goal of India to keep Pakistan and China separate. “India’s biggest foreign policy challenge has been to keep Pakistan and China separate, and now China and Pakistan have melted militarily,” he claimed.
Finally, Gandhi emphasized that India cannot afford a prime minister who does not have the courage to use the military when needed. “We need a prime minister who freezes the army, freezes the air force and handles the situation that Indira Gandhi did,” he concluded.
India’s Modi denies third -party mediation
Meanwhile, the Indian Prime Minister once again denied that every world leader pressed India to stop fighting Pakistan during their recent conflict, following the repeated demands of US President Donald Trump that he had broken peace.
“No world leader asked us to stop the operation,” Modi told Parliament during the debate, though he did not named Trump in his speech. He also claimed that it was Pakistan who pleaded with India to stop fighting after felt “warmth from our attack”.
Trump has claimed several times that he sparked peace between rivals, including by Monday. “If I wasn’t there, you would now have six big wars going on. India would fight with Pakistan,” Trump said during his visit to Scotland.
