Saturday, March 29, 2025
Amid growing political uproar over India informing Pakistan about Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a clarification. The controversy erupted after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Indian government committed a “grave mistake” by revealing military plans to Pakistan. However, the MEA’s External Publicity (XP) Division clarified that the communication occurred only after the operation began—not before, as alleged.
In response to the allegations, the XP Division stated:
“External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar said that we issued a warning to Pakistan at the beginning of the operation, which clearly refers to the initial phase after Operation Sindoor was launched. It is being incorrectly portrayed as if the warning came before the operation.”
The ministry further accused critics of misrepresenting facts and spreading misinformation.
The controversy started after Rahul Gandhi posted a video clip of Jaishankar on social media platform X. In his post, Gandhi wrote:
“Informing Pakistan at the beginning of our military operation is a serious crime. The Foreign Minister publicly admitted this. Who authorized him to do so? How many aircraft did we lose because of this?”
Supporting Rahul’s claim, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also demanded Jaishankar’s resignation, accusing him of betraying the nation by disclosing sensitive information.
Jairam Ramesh, through another post on X, accused the minister of “extraordinary disclosure” without addressing similar claims from his U.S. counterpart. He wrote:
“How can he continue in his position after admitting to this? Prime Minister Modi had earlier given China a clean chit publicly. Now, his appointed Foreign Minister has compromised India’s position with this admission.”
The full video shows Jaishankar stating:
“At the beginning of the operation, we sent a message to Pakistan saying we are targeting terrorist infrastructure, not the army. So, their military had the option not to intervene. They chose not to take that wise decision.”
Despite opposition claims, the Press Information Bureau’s (PIB) fact-checking unit denied that Jaishankar ever said Pakistan was informed before the operation. PIB confirmed that his words have been taken out of context and misrepresented.
As political tensions rise ahead of the elections, the MEA’s clarification aims to settle the storm around Operation Sindoor Pakistan warning. With misinformation and edited clips fueling controversy, the focus has now shifted to verifying facts and avoiding political exploitation of national security matters.
