Informing Pakistan at start of attack sparks protests in India  

India Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.

In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.

"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 Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of External Affairs has also said that a statement on the timing of Pakistan being informed was being falsely represented. 

“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," Mr Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video. 

The Congress MP wrote that informing Pakistan at the start of the attack was a "crime". 

"EAM (External Affairs Minister) has publicly admitted that GOI (Government of India) did it," Mr Gandhi said, asking who had authorised the sharing of the information with Pakistan. 

Alluding to claims of Indian planes being shot down during the strike on the terror bases, Mr Gandhi also asked: "⁠How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?"

BJP Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari hit back less than an hour later, sharing a fact check by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and accusing Mr Gandhi of spreading fake news.

The PIB, in a post on Thursday, had fact-checked a claim by a journalist in which he alleged that Mr Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan before the start of Operation Sindoor that it would be hitting terrorist infrastructure in the country.