New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): After Rahul Gandhi's accusations against EAM S Jaishankar that the government 'informed Pakistan' ahead of Operation Sindoor, the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai had previously addressed any such claims, saying that India had attempted to communicate its intent to strike terror bases in the 'immediate wake of Operation Sindoor.'

Addressing the media on May 11, Lt General Ghai said that the compulsion of India to strike at the 'heart of terror' was communicated to the Pakistan DGMO, however the Pakistan side had 'brusquely turned down' the request.

'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,' DGMO Ghai said during a press conference.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs called the accusations by the Congress MP as an 'utter misrepresentation of facts.' The MEA said that EAM Jaishankar had stated that the government warned Pakistan at 'the early phase after Operation Sindoor's commencement' and not before it.

'EAM 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 ministry's external publicity (XP) division said in a statement.

The clarification came after Rahul Gandhi posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), in which Jaishankar is seen speaking to the media on Thursday following the inauguration of the Honduras Embassy in Delhi.

In his X post, Gandhi alleged wrongdoing by the government, stating: '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 airforce lose as a result?'

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 civilians dead. As part of the operation, Indian Armed Forces targeted terror infrastructure deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, eliminating over 100 terrorists linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Following the strikes, Pakistan retaliated with cross-border shelling and attempted drone attacks. In response, India launched coordinated airstrikes that damaged key military infrastructure across 11 Pakistani airbases. On May 10, both sides announced an understanding on the cessation of hostilities. (ANI)