<p>New Delhi: Mounting a sharp attack on the government, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the ruling party of lacking “political will” and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the Indian armed forces for his image. He also said that PM Modi lacked the courage to say that US President Donald Trump is lying when Trump said that he managed a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. </p><p>Calling the Pahalgam incident a brutal attack “organised and orchestrated by the Pakistani state”, Gandhi said that the goal of Operation Sindoor was to protect PM Modi’s image. “... because he had blood on his hands … of people killed in Pahalgam. He used the Air Force to protect his image,” Gandhi said. He also said that at a “dangerous time” like this when China and Pakistan have come together, Indian cannot “afford” a prime minister like Modi who does not say that Trump is lying. </p><p>He also dared the prime minister to call Trump a liar. “After that (Operation Sindoor), Donald Trump has said 29 times, ‘I’ve done the ceasefire’. Let the PM say here that Trump is a liar … if he has the courage of Indira Gandhi, if he has 50% of the guts Indira Gandhi (showed in 1971),” Gandhi said. </p><p>He said that while union defence minister Rajnath Singh compared the 1971 War with Operation Sindoor, what this government lacked was the “political will” of India Gandhi. “At the Indian Ocean, seven fleets were waiting for us, yet, Indira Gandhi said, ‘You come, we will do what we want’. This is called political will, to tell (that to) the world’s biggest superpower,” Gandhi said. </p>.Operation Sindoor debate | PM Modi has blood on his hands of Pahalgam victims, says Rahul Gandhi.<p>He also said that in his speech, Rajnath revealed more than he would have wanted to. “The defence minister said that Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 am and it lasted 22 minutes, he also said that at 1:35 am we called Pakistan and told them that we’ve hit non-military targets and we do not want escalation – what does it mean, it means that the DGMO was directed to ask for a ceasefire,” Gandhi said. </p><p>Gandhi also said that the hands of the Indian armed forces have been tied by this government. “You asked the Air Force to attack non-militarised locations in a state with air defence systems, planes will fall. IAF made no mistake, the mistake was made by the political leadership … by saying you cannot attack military infrastructure, the political leadership had tied the hands of the armed forces,” Gandhi said. </p><p>Gandhi also rained an attack on EAM S Jaishankar and said that the US President called the man behind the Pahalgam attack – General Asif Munir – for lunch to thank him. “Our prime minister was not invited … Three-four months ago, I said India’s big foreign policy challenge is to keep Pakistan and China separate, but you’ve destroyed that foreign policy … if you listened to me, you would not have lost five planes.”</p>
<p>New Delhi: Mounting a sharp attack on the government, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the ruling party of lacking “political will” and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using the Indian armed forces for his image. He also said that PM Modi lacked the courage to say that US President Donald Trump is lying when Trump said that he managed a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. </p><p>Calling the Pahalgam incident a brutal attack “organised and orchestrated by the Pakistani state”, Gandhi said that the goal of Operation Sindoor was to protect PM Modi’s image. “... because he had blood on his hands … of people killed in Pahalgam. He used the Air Force to protect his image,” Gandhi said. He also said that at a “dangerous time” like this when China and Pakistan have come together, Indian cannot “afford” a prime minister like Modi who does not say that Trump is lying. </p><p>He also dared the prime minister to call Trump a liar. “After that (Operation Sindoor), Donald Trump has said 29 times, ‘I’ve done the ceasefire’. Let the PM say here that Trump is a liar … if he has the courage of Indira Gandhi, if he has 50% of the guts Indira Gandhi (showed in 1971),” Gandhi said. </p><p>He said that while union defence minister Rajnath Singh compared the 1971 War with Operation Sindoor, what this government lacked was the “political will” of India Gandhi. “At the Indian Ocean, seven fleets were waiting for us, yet, Indira Gandhi said, ‘You come, we will do what we want’. This is called political will, to tell (that to) the world’s biggest superpower,” Gandhi said. </p>.Operation Sindoor debate | PM Modi has blood on his hands of Pahalgam victims, says Rahul Gandhi.<p>He also said that in his speech, Rajnath revealed more than he would have wanted to. “The defence minister said that Operation Sindoor began at 1:05 am and it lasted 22 minutes, he also said that at 1:35 am we called Pakistan and told them that we’ve hit non-military targets and we do not want escalation – what does it mean, it means that the DGMO was directed to ask for a ceasefire,” Gandhi said. </p><p>Gandhi also said that the hands of the Indian armed forces have been tied by this government. “You asked the Air Force to attack non-militarised locations in a state with air defence systems, planes will fall. IAF made no mistake, the mistake was made by the political leadership … by saying you cannot attack military infrastructure, the political leadership had tied the hands of the armed forces,” Gandhi said. </p><p>Gandhi also rained an attack on EAM S Jaishankar and said that the US President called the man behind the Pahalgam attack – General Asif Munir – for lunch to thank him. “Our prime minister was not invited … Three-four months ago, I said India’s big foreign policy challenge is to keep Pakistan and China separate, but you’ve destroyed that foreign policy … if you listened to me, you would not have lost five planes.”</p>