‘Misrepresentation of facts’: Centre on Rahul Gandhi’s claim India informed Pakistan before Operation Sindoor

On Saturday, Gandhi posted a video clip of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on X, in which the minister can be heard saying that a message had been conveyed to Pakistan during the operation, clarifying that India was targeting terrorist infrastructure and not military assets.

Gandhi interpreted this as confirmation that Pakistan was tipped off before the operation began, calling it a “crime”.

“EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it,” the Congress MP claimed in his post, demanding to know who authorised the decision.

He further questioned whether the Indian Air Force suffered any losses as a result of the purported advance warning: “How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?”

Responding sharply, the BJP accused Gandhi of spreading a false narrative and misrepresenting Jaishankar’s comments.

The MEA, too, issued a clarification on Saturday evening, stating that Gandhi’s interpretation of the timing was incorrect.

“The External Affairs Minister had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the statement said.

Earlier, the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking unit had dismissed similar claims made by a journalist, reiterating that Jaishankar had not stated that Pakistan was informed prior to the operation.

“The social media post falsely implies from External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar’s statement that India informed Pakistan before the start of #OperationSindoor. EAM is being misquoted and he has not made this statement. Remain vigilant and avoid falling for deceptive information,” the PIB said in its Thursday post.