Rajnath Singh Defends Operation Sindoor, Slams Opposition for "Asking the Wrong Questions"

  In a forceful address to the Lok Sabha on Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh strongly defended Operation Sindoor, the Indian military response following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed the lives of 26 civilians. Singh criticised the Opposition for what he described as misplaced priorities and questioned their reluctance to acknowledge the operation's success.

"It is the Opposition’s duty to ask tough questions of the government on public matters. But time and again, instead of asking how many Pakistani aircraft were downed, they focused on how many of ours were hit. If the question is whether any of our soldiers were harmed during Operation Sindoor, the answer is no," Singh said.

He continued, “If you want to ask questions, ask this: the terrorists who wiped the sindoor from the foreheads of our sisters and daughters—did our armed forces eliminate their masterminds through Operation Sindoor? The answer is yes. In the end, what matters is the result, and all our objectives were met.”

Explaining the mission’s strategic purpose, Singh clarified that the intent was not territorial conquest or border aggression, but a decisive dismantling of terror infrastructure across the border. “The goal of Operation Sindoor was to demolish the terror nurseries that Pakistan has nurtured. It was about delivering justice to the families of those who were killed in the Pahalgam attack,” he said.

He further stated that India’s armed forces were given a “free hand” to identify and neutralise high-value terror targets, in line with the operation’s politico-military objective of holding Pakistan accountable for its continued proxy war via terrorism. “This was not about starting a war—it was about ensuring Pakistan paid a price for its actions,” Singh added.

Although Singh refrained from directly naming any individual, his remarks appeared to be aimed at Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who was present in the House and is expected to lead the Congress party’s response in the debate on Operation Sindoor.

Gandhi had previously drawn the government's ire by sharing a video clip of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, alleging that the government had informed Pakistan in advance about the operation. In a post on X, Gandhi wrote: “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 Air Force lose as a result?”

The Press Information Bureau, however, promptly dismissed Gandhi’s claim, asserting that Jaishankar had been misquoted and the video was taken out of context.

This marked Gandhi’s first public critique of the government's handling of the issue. Prior to this, his only intervention was a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, relaying what he described as a “unanimous request of the Opposition” to convene a special parliamentary session to deliberate on the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor, and the ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.