Informing Pak ahead of Operation Sindoor was a crime: Rahul on Jaishankar's 'admission'

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared an undated video clip of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s interaction with reporters where the latter talked about Operation Sindoor and allegedly admitted that neighbouring country was ‘informed’ prior to India’s strike on the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK.

The video, which is now viral and widely shared, shows Jaishankar speaking to news agencies ANI, PTI and IANS, saying, “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying, we are striking at terrorist infrastructure. We are not striking at the (Pakistan) military. So the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice,” Jaishankar told reporters.

Sharing the video, Rahul stated that such information was an act of ‘crime.’

“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 Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha X account read.

Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.

EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.

1. Who authorised it?
2. ⁠How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025

Jaishankar’s remarks misrepresented: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday described as “utter misrepresentation” claims that Jaishankar acknowledged that India alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7.

“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.

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Stop spreading ‘fake news’: BJP hits out

Hitting back, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya slammed Rahul terming of remarks “blatant misrepresentation of facts.”

“There’s a clear motive behind this distortion: Rahul Gandhi, who previously made baseless corruption allegations regarding the Rafale deal in an attempt to weaken India’s military preparedness, now finds it impossible to directly blame the Armed Forces. So instead, he is trying to divert the issue through shallow, misleading narratives,” he charged in a post on X.

Malviya said it was “quite clear” from the video that Jaishankar stated “we had warned Pakistan at the very beginning – referring to the early phase after the commencement of Operation Sindoor”.

This is now being “falsely represented” as a statement made before the operation began, he said.

“This is what happens when intellectually challenged individuals rise to positions of relevance purely due to lineage,” Malviya charged.

This is what happens when intellectually challenged individuals rise to positions of relevance purely due to lineage.

It is quite clear from the video that EAM Dr S Jaishankar stated we had warned Pakistan at the very beginning—referring to the early phase after the commencement… https://t.co/eu189Hix1I

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) May 17, 2025

BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari also lashed out at Rahul and accused him of spreading “fake news.”

He posted a screenshot of the government’s PIB Fact Check unit’s post on X which had rejected a similar claim earlier this week, as “misleading”.

“Old habits die hard. Rahul Gandhi who was partying after the 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack, and who was officially quoted by Pakistani military in its press conference is back to question our forces,” Bhandari charged in another post on X.

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