Rahul Gandhi terms EAM's silence 'damning'; BJP accuses him of speaking 'Pak's language'

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday launched a fresh salvo on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, saying his silence on the number of aircraft India "lost" after Pakistan was "informed" about the military action under Operation Sindoor is "damning".

"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?" he asked in a post on X.

"This wasn't a lapse. It was a crime. And the nation deserves the truth," Gandhi also said.

In response, the BJP accused Gandhi of speaking the "language of Pakistan" and asked whether the Congress party was truly serious about supporting the nation.

According to a PTI report, Gandhi had earlier targeted Jaishankar on the issue, suggesting that the Indian side informed Pakistan ahead of the military strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The Congress leader earlier shared an undated video clip of Jaishankar and wrote, "Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI (Government of India) did it."

"Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result," the Congress leader asked.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had described Gandhi's claims that Jaishankar acknowledged India having alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7 as "utter misrepresentation".

"The External Affairs Minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor's commencement," the External Publicity (XP) division of the ministry said.

"This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out," it said in a brief statement.

Union minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday accused Gandhi of misquoting the MEA, PTI reported.

"Rahul Gandhi seems to have learned nothing from his past mistakes. He continues to disrespect the Nation's Armed Forces by questioning how many jets were lost — despite clear statements from the IAF and MEA confirming there were no asset losses,” Joshi said in a post on X.

"Is the Congress party truly serious about supporting the nation? Their actions suggest otherwise," Joshi asked.

BJP IT Department head Amit Malviya said in a post on X, "Rahul Gandhi's daftness is not merely incidental. It is sinister. Rahul Gandhi must desist from distorting facts. India knows who he truly speaks for," he added.

Under Operation Sindoor, India destroyed nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on May 7, in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.