Defence attache's remarks taken out of context, says Indian Embassy amid political row over Operation Sindoor

The Indian Embassy in Indonesia on Sunday said that a defence attache's comments at a seminar were taken out of context after a political row erupted in India over remarks on Operation Sindoor.

"We have seen media reports regarding a presentation made by India's defence attache to Indonesia at a Seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context, and the media reports are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker," the Indian Embassy said in a post on X.

"The presentation conveyed that the Indian Armed Forces serve under civilian political leadership, unlike some other countries in our neighbourhood. It was also explained that the objective of Operation Sindoor was to target terrorist infrastructure, and the Indian response was non-escalatory," the Embassy added, taking a dig at Pakistan.

Earlier in the day, the Congress, quoting media reports on comments by Indian defence attache Captain (Indian Navy) Shiv Kumar, alleged that the nation had been "misled".

"First the Chief of Defence Staff makes important revelations in Singapore. Then a senior defence official follows up from Indonesia," Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh had said in his post on X.

"But why is the PM refusing to preside over an all-party meeting and take the Opposition into confidence? Why has the demand for a special session of Parliament been rejected?" he said.

Citing the same media report, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the Modi government has "misled the nation from the start - failing to disclose the aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor".

"There were oblique references to losses in air combat on 6/7 May, during a briefing by the DG Air Ops (Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti) when he said - 'we are in a combat situation and losses are a part of combat'," he said on X.

"Then, it was left to Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan to make the first official admission of our attrition in the air while speaking to Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore," Khera said.

"And now, in another shocking revelation by Capt. Shiv Kumar, it has emerged that the Indian Air Force lost fighter jets to Pakistan on the night of May 7, 2025, during its targeting of Pakistan's terror-linked sites 'only because of the constraint given by the political leadership'," the Congress leader said.

"This is a direct indictment of the Modi Government, particularly Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. No wonder they are ducking our demand for a Special Session of Parliament like the plague," he alleged.

They know they've compromised national security, and they're terrified of what the Congress party will expose before the people of India, Khera claimed.

(With PTI inputs)