Congress leader Jairam Ramesh(L) and Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: With the Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan acknowledging Pakistan downing Indian fighter aircraft, Congress on Saturday said the “fog of war is now clearing” even as the Modi government “misled the nation”. It demanded setting up a panel similar to the Kargil Review Committee to examine the country's defence preparedness.
The party also claimed that the whole country now realises that the Modi government was “not upfront” with whatever happened and there is a need for a reassessment of military technology as India lost aircraft in the four-day operation even as most of the firing in the day operation was done from within international borders.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Gen Chauhan's remarks raise “some very important questions”, which “can only be asked” if a Special Session of the Parliament is immediately convened. “The Modi government has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing,” he posted on ‘X’.
Saluting the Air Force pilots for “risking their lives fighting the enemy”, he said, “...a comprehensive strategic review is the need of the hour” and demanded a “comprehensive review of our defence preparedness by an independent expert committee, on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee”.
Congress has been raising questions about military losses, including downing of fighter aircraft, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi amplifying the demand.
General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh, who referred to the ‘From Surprise to Reckoning’ report by the Kargil Review Committee under the chairmanship of “India's strategic affairs guru” K Subrahmanyam, the late father of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, said Modi will not chair all-party meetings or take Parliament into confidence.
"...the nation gets to know of the first phase of Operation Sindoor through the CDS's interview in Singapore. Couldn't opposition leaders have been taken into confidence by the PM earlier?" he posted on 'X'.
Gen Chouhan told an interviewer when asked about losing aircraft, “I think what is important is not the jet being downed but why they were being downed. The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made, (which were) remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days and flew all our jets again targeting at long range.”
Rejecting Pakistan claims that they downed six Indian fighter aircraft, he said, “(Pakistan claims are) absolutely incorrect. that is not important. What I said is important, why they went down and what we did after that. That is more important.”
Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader and Telangana Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Modi government should be “more transparent” on what really happened, as “accountability is a normal thing in a democracy and it has nothing to do with patriotism”. He said Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was attacked for asking questions.
“The fact that the fighter aircraft were down is something that the government needs to stop denying. The CDS himself mentioned that. Earlier Air Marshal Bharti had mentioned it indirectly in his briefing along with the DGMO,” Reddy, himself a former fighter pilot, said.
Rejecting allegations of playing politics on national security matters, he said there is “nothing that impacts” the morale of the armed forces if the losses are revealed.
He also referred to Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh’s recent remarks about the delay in supply of fighter aircraft and said it was a “matter of serious concern...HAL's failure to deliver Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets on time can prove to be a serious problem for the Air Force.”
With the IAF chief himself expressing unhappiness about the situation, he said the whole country and the government must “wake up to the reality that we need to strengthen our armed forces considerably more”.
“The IAF needs 35-40 fighter jets annually. The HAL is contracted to supply 24 fighter aircraft every year and has failed to deliver even that. The Air Chief has also flagged deeper malice, contracts signed with unrealistic deadlines, vitiating the procurement process and eroding institutional trust,” he said.
“Despite the BJP’s grand declaration of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, as of today, while the Congress supports rapid indigenisation, we must remember that indigenisation has not so far fulfilled the needs of the defence forces, both in quality and quantity,” he said.
With talent shortages remaining an issue, he said the government needs to ensure that the best brains in the country, both in the operational wings of their Air Force and in research and development.