In the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, countries only denounced terrorism and not a single nation condemned Pakistan, said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

“This means the world is equating us with Pakistan,” said the Leader of Opposition during a debate in Lok Sabha about the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

Gandhi further stated that political will was necessary for the country to “utilise its armed forces” and that they should be given “full freedom of operation”.

The Congress leader cited remarks by Captain Shiv Kumar, India’s defence attaché to Indonesia, that the Indian Air Force had lost fighter jets to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor. Gandhi claimed this had happened because “of constraint given by the political leadership” to the armed forces.

On June 10, Kumar said that India lost “some aircraft” due to “the constraint given by the political leadership to not attack the military establishment or [Pakistani] air defences”.

Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha that the armed forces had not made any “tactical errors” on their part that led to their aircraft “being downed”.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad had escalated on May 7 when the Indian military carried out strikes – codenamed Operation Sindoor – on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes were in response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 persons on April 22.

The Pakistan Army retaliated to Indian strikes by repeatedly shelling Indian villages along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. At least 22 Indian civilians and seven defence personnel were killed.

India and Pakistan on May 10 reached an “understanding” to halt firing following the four-day conflict.

Amit Shah should take responsibility: Mallikarjun Kharge

Speaking before Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah should take responsibility for the Pahalgam attack and not Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

On July 14, Sinha in an interview with The Times of India said that he takes “full responsibility” for the Pahalgam attack. The lieutenant governor had said that the attack was “undoubtedly a security failure”.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, the Congress leader raised questions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelling a trip to Kashmir days prior to the Pahalgam terror attack.

“Did the government anticipate an attack?” asked Kharge. “Is it their patriotism to allow other people to die?”

The Congress leader also highlighted that various terror attacks, including the ones in Uri and Pathankot in 2016, Pulwama in 2019 and Pahalgam in 2025, have occurred during the tenure of the incumbent government.

“All these incidents make it clear that there is a recurring Intelligence failure and failure in national security,” Kharge said.

Also read: