New Delhi: The Congress asked the government Saturday to tell the country the truth on what losses were suffered during the four-day conflict with Pakistan after Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan acknowledged aircraft loss in the hostilities.
Gen Chouhan, however, dismissed as “absolutely incorrect” Islamabad’s claim of downing six Indian jets.
Latching on to the comment by the chief of defence staff (CDS), Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy said the country wanted to know whether any aircraft were downed during the conflict, especially in the wake of the CDS’ “admission”.
“A government has to be transparent. Accountability is normal in a democracy. This is not about patriotism. We are more patriotic. Our first family, the Gandhi family, themselves suffered and have made huge sacrifices for the integrity of the country and these people question us. This is really shocking, bizarre,” the Congress leader said.
He reiterated that Congress supports the Indian armed forces in every endeavour. “The party congratulates them as they have done a great job and we are proud of them, we salute them,” he said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that July 29, 1999, the Vajpayee government set up the Kargil Review Committee under the chairmanship of “India’s strategic affairs guru K Subrahmanyam, whose son is now our external affairs minister”.
This was just three days after the Kargil war ended, he said.
“The committee submitted its detailed report five months later. The report titled ‘From Surprise to Reckoning’ was then laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament February 23, 2000, after the necessary redactions.
“Will the Modi government now take a similar step in light of what the Chief of Defence Staff has just revealed in Singapore?” Ramesh posed in a post on X.
Gen Chauhan, in an interview with Bloomberg TV, asserted it is more important to find out why the aircraft were lost so that the Indian military could improve tactics and hit back again.
“I think what is important is not the jet being downed but why they were being downed,” he said.
Gen Chauhan was asked whether India lost combat jets during the four-day military clashes with Pakistan earlier this month.
“The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made; remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days. We flew all our jets again targeting at long range,” he said.
“Absolutely incorrect,” Gen Chauhan said when asked about Pakistan’s claim of shooting down six Indian jets during Operation Sindoor.
PTI
