Govt calls out Rahul Gandhi's remarks as 'utter misrepresentation of facts' on Op Sindoor

The government has made it clear that the Pakistan Director General of Military Operations was informed of Indian action after terror targets had been hit by the Armed, not before as is being claimed by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Calling it an "utter misrepresentation of facts", the Ministry of External Affairs firmly rejected Gandhi's questioning of External Affairs Minister S Jashankar on the issue.

"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," stated MEA.

This was explained in detail by Indian DGMO Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai in his briefings on Operation Sindoor.

“And impulsive nature of our adversary, and even though we did attempt to reach out and communicate our compulsions to strike at the heart of terror to my counterpart in the immediate wake of Operation Sindoor, the request was brusquely turned down with an intimation that a severe response was inevitable and in the offing. We were of course prepared, operations on the 7th and 8th."

Repeating the same sequence, Jaishankar had sought to make the point a couple of days ago that the Pakistan Military had the option of staying away from escalating matters after India had informed them that these were actions against terror camps. "We were striking terrorist infrastructure not the military..the (Pakistan) military had the option of standing out and not interfering in the process. They chose not to take this good advice."

Gandhi took these remarks to be a warning sent out before the commencement of Operation Sindoor while it was conveyed after the first attacks on nine terror camps including at the nerve centres in Muridke, Bahawalpur and Muzaffarabad. The purpose was to make it clear at 1.35 am, soon after the attacks, that it was India which is had struck Pakistan but only targeted at terror infrastructure, not civilian or military targets.

#WATCH | DGMO Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai said, "...Even though we did attempt to reach out and communicate our compulsions to strike at the heart of terror to my counterpart in the immediate wake of Operation Sindoor, the request was brusquely turned down with an intimation… https://t.co/BElmbs1t9s pic.twitter.com/FERvCnWy5y

— ANI (@ANI) May 17, 2025

Jaishankar was referring to the call made by Director General of Military Operations Lt General Rajiv Ghai to his Pakistani counterpart Major General Kashif Abdullah after the Indian Armed Forces struck nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir between 1 am and 1.30 am on May 7. Lt Gen Ghai had told his Pakistani counterpart that India had hit “carefully chosen” terror targets.

Gandhi's remarks came at a time when the government has worked out seven delegations of MPs cutting across party lines to explain India's position in different capitals worldover. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will be leading the key delegation to the US.