Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told an all-party meeting that over 100 terrorists had been killed in Operation Sindoor but evaded questions on Pakistan’s claim about downing Indian fighter jets, citing national security and stressing that the military operation was continuing.

Rajnath, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told allies and Opposition leaders that Operation Sindoor was an “ongoing operation” and so its details could not be revealed.

“Under Operation Sindoor, precise strikes were carried out on 9 terrorist hideouts and over 100 terrorists were killed…. Counting is still going on and confirmed reports are awaited,” he is learnt to have said.

“At this stage, all the details of the operation cannot be given out as the operation is ongoing.”

The Opposition leaders, unlike some past instances, refrained from pressing with queries and extended full support to the government for whatever action it took against terrorism. They also lauded the armed forces for Operation Sindoor.

During the meeting, the government desisted from apprising the Opposition leaders of the fresh escalation of tensions, at a time when India has targeted key Pakistani air defence radar systems.

“In the meeting we heard what the government said. They said that some things are confidential in terms of security and cannot be discussed,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters after the closed-door meeting.

Kharge added: “All of us (the Opposition) said that we are with them (the government) at this difficult time.”

At the meeting, Kharge was learnt to have questioned Modi’s absence and asked the government for a clarification on the media reports and Pakistani claims about Indian fighters being shot down.

Outside, he flagged Modi’s absence but not the alleged downing of Indian fighters.

“We wanted the Prime Minister to come personally and explain everything…. He did not come to the last all-party meeting, either, and this is a matter of great sadness. However, in these difficult times we don’t want to criticise anyone,” Kharge said.

He stressed: “We are all with the army.”

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi was the most vocal against Pakistan at the meeting. He urged the government to run an international campaign to get the TRF (The Resistance Forum), the Lashkar-e-Toiba proxy believed to be behind the Pahalgam attack, designated as a terror outfit.

Owaisi advised the government to exploit this “golden opportunity” to reach out to Kashmiris and confront Pakistan.

“Those who have lost their lives in Poonch (in Pakistani shelling) should be declared terrorist victims, as they have lost everything because of Pakistan’s ceasefire violations,” he told the meeting.

Speaking to the media, Owaisi hailed the destruction of terror camps in Pakistan in the military operation and sought a clarification on the international media’s reports about Pakistan downing a Rafale fighter jet.

“The biggest takeaways for me are that Bahawalpur and Muridke, the two terrorist sites, were destroyed,” Owaisi told reporters.

“Many international media outlets have reported that a Rafale has been downed in Bhatinda. The Indian Air Force should deny it, as it shouldn’t damage the morale of our armed forces.”

A labourer was killed and nine others were injured in a village in Punjab’s Bathinda district when a portion of an unidentified plane landed in a wheatfield and went up in flames in the early hours of Wednesday. Officials have refused to identify the crashed aircraft.

Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju lauded the Opposition for its display of “maturity”.

“All political leaders showed maturity…. All leaders have unanimously praised the armed forces. Everyone said we will support all of the government’s actions and of the forces. Nobody had any opposition,” he said.