Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday reignited his criticism of external affairs minister S. Jaishankar over the loss of Indian aircraft during Operation Sindoor, prompting the ministry to accuse him of distorting facts.
The Congress MP posed a direct question: "How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?" — a reference to Jaishankar's earlier remarks about India informing Pakistan at the start of the operation.
On X, Gandhi, reshared an earlier post and wrote: “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.”
This is Gandhi’s second statement on the matter, following his post on May 17, where he alleged, “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?”
“External Affairs Minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” said the ministry in a statement.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Amit Malviya, replied on X, “Rahul Gandhi’s daftness is not merely incidental — it is sinister. He is speaking the language of Pakistan.”
On May 15, Jaishankar had said: “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorists’ infrastructure. We are not striking at the military. So the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice.”
He was referring to a conversation between India’s Director General of Military Operations Lt General Rajiv Ghai and his Pakistani counterpart Major General Kashif Abdullah that took place after Operation Sindoor began.
There’s still no clarity if India lost fighter jets.
Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar had told Al Jazeera that Islamabad had retaliated by shooting down five Indian jets, a drone, and several quadcopters. Pakistan’s military spokesperson Major General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry added that the aircraft were downed inside Indian territory and confirmed that neither side had crossed into each other’s airspace during the exchanges — an assertion seconded by India.
On May 9, Pakistan’s Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed claimed that among the five downed aircraft were three Rafales, a MiG-29, and a Su-30, also presenting electronic signatures and specific coordinates of where the aircraft were reportedly hit.
Chinese state news outlet The Global Times reported on May 14 that Pakistan had downed Indian fighter planes.
India’s embassy in China called the report “disinformation.”
New Delhi has not issued a formal confirmation or denial of the reported losses.
When asked whether Indian jets were shot down during a news conference after the announcement of the ceasefire, India’s Director General of Air Operations Air Marshal A.K. Bharti had said: “We are in a combat scenario and losses are a part of it. As for details, at this time I would not like to comment on that as we are still in combat and give advantage to the adversary. All our pilots are back home.”