‘Utter Misrepresentation’: MEA Clarifies Jaishankar’s Statement As Rahul Gandhi Hits Out

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday strongly refuted claims circulating on social media that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had admitted India informed Pakistan before the commencement of Operation Sindoor.

In a statement, the XP Division of the MEA clarified that Jaishankar’s remarks have been “utterly misrepresented”. “EAM S Jaishankar had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the MEA said.

Rahul Gandhi Attacks Modi Govt Over Jaishankar’s ‘Informed Pakistan’ Remark

The clarification came after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the Centre, alleging that informing Pakistan during the operation was a “crime”.

In a post on X, Gandhi questioned who had authorised the decision and linked it to the safety of Indian Air Force personnel. “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our Air Force lose as a result?” said the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Gandhi also shared an undated video clip in which Jaishankar is heard saying, “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, ‘We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.’ So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice.”

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) also weighed in, debunking the interpretation being circulated online. In a post by its Fact Check Unit on X, PIB asserted that Jaishankar had not made any such statement and was being misquoted.

Operation Sindoor was India’s offensive targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam on 22 April.