Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed blistering debate on Operation Sindoor, with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh saying the operation was paused as the armed forces had achieved the desired politico-military objectives and asserted that there was no pressure to end it. The Opposition, meanwhile, demanded Home Minister Amit Shah to take responsibility for security lapse in Pahalgam terror attack and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to answer to US President Donald Trump’s claims on bringing ceasefire.
If Pakistan indulges in fresh misadventure, it will resume again, the Defence Minister added. He said the armed forces are ever vigilant to defend India’s borders and the military operation was an effective and well-coordinated strike against nine terror sites. Seven terror camps were fully destroyed and India has proof of the damage incurred inside PoK and Pakistan, Singh said in the House. The entire operation was over in 22 minutes and the Pahalgam killings were avenged. The attacks, he asserted, were non-escalatory in nature.
“Before executing Operation Sindoor, our forces studied every aspect and chose the option that would cause maximum damage to terrorists while ensuring no harm to innocent civilians,” Singh said. He underlined that to say or believe that Operation Sindoor was stopped under any pressure is baseless and completely incorrect. It was Pakistan’s director general of military operation who requested his Indian counterpart to end the strikes. Singh’s statement comes against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire claims.
The minister said the objective was not to cross borders or take over territory but to target terrorist camps, their supporters and to destroy them. He asserted that no innocent civilian was targeted in the military strikes. Pakistan could not hit our targets and there was no damage to any of our important assets, he noted. He pointed out that India managed to get proof of the damages incurred in PoK and Pakistan. “Operation Sindoor, symbol of our strength, demonstrated that India will not remain silent if anyone harms its citizens,” Singh said.
In an all out attack, on the Centre, the Congress said Home Minister Amit Shah must take responsibility for the lapses that led to the Pahalgam attack and asked the Government to clarify how many Indian jets were downed during Operation Sindoor. Participating in the special debate on Pahalgam terror strikes and Operation Sindoor, Congress’ deputy leader in the House Gaurav Gogoi also slammed the Government over US President Donald Trump’s claim 26 times that he used trade to bring about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and asked, “before whom did Prime Minister Narendra Modi surrender”.
Gogoi said the Prime Minister had been stating post-Uri and after the Pulwama attack that “humne ghar mein ghus ke mara” and “we destroyed terror infrastructure”, and he is making the same remarks now. “They are still saying that Operation Sindoor is incomplete and Pakistan can do this again, then how is this a success? They themselves are saying our intention was not war, why was it not so? They say it was not to take territory, why was it not so? When will we take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, if not today, then when? The most horrendous terror attacks have happened under your government,” Gogoi said.
He said the Opposition wanted to know from Modi that if Pakistan was ready to kneel before India, then “why did we stop and before whom did you surrender?”
“US President Trump has made the claim 26 times that he used the threat of trade to bring a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He says five to six jets have been downed. One jet is of crores and crores (of rupees) that is why we want to know from the defence minister, the country has the courage to listen to the truth, he must answer as to how many fighter jets were downed,” Gogoi asked.
“This information, this truth, is not just for Indian citizens; it is important for soldiers, they are also being lied to,” he said.
Gogoi said there are just 35 Rafales in the country and if some have been downed, he thinks “it is a big loss”. Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s speech earlier, Gogoi said he gave a lot of information, but did not say as the defence minister how terrorists came to Pahalgam. “The country wants to know. 100 days have passed, but this Government has not brought terrorists to justice,” he said.
“Who will take responsibility, the LG? It is the home minister who must take responsibility. You cannot hide behind the LG. This government is such a coward and is so weak that they blamed even the tour operators for the Pahalgam attack,” Gogoi said.
Speaking in the debate Trinamool Congress’ Kalyan Banjerjee said that the moment PM Modi stands in front Donald Trump his height becomes 5 foot and chest reduces to 36 inches. He reiterated that the PM should clarify on the claims of President Trump and the claims of five jets being downed.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted that at no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage of trade with Operation Sindoor and the request for halting the military action came from the Pakistani side through the DGMO channel.
Jaishankar also said the result of India’s diplomacy post-Pahalgam attack was that only three out of 190 nations which are part of the UN opposed Operation Sindoor. There was an overwhelming support that the country which has been attacked has the right to defend itself, he said.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday slammed the Congress for not trusting the statement of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Operation Sindoor and instead believing US President Donald Trump, and said that is why it is sitting in the Opposition and will remain there for 20 more years.
“They (opposition) do not have faith in the minister of external affairs who has taken oath as a member of the Indian Government. They trust some other country. I know the importance of foreign (opinion) in their party, but it does not mean that they should impose this view on Parliament,” he said in a brief intervention in the Lok Sabha when Jaishankar was speaking during the discussion on Operation Sindoor.
Jaishankar has taken oath as a minister and is responsible for what he is saying, Shah said. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are expected to speak in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.