Union minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said Congress President Rahul Gandhi has “seriously hurt” the image of Indian politicians in the international community by “concocting a conversation” with French President Emmanuel Macron.

On Friday, Gandhi said in the Lok Sabha that Macron had told him during a meeting that there was no secrecy pact between New Delhi and Paris on the Rafale jet deal. Hours later, the French government released a statement saying the 2008 agreement between New Delhi and Paris “binds the two countries to protect classified information which could impact security and operational capabilities of the defence equipment of India and France”.

The Congress president made the remarks during a debate on a no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led government.

“One should never misquote a conversation with a head of government or a head of state,” Jaitley said in a Facebook post titled Frivolity and the No Confidence Motion. “You do it once, serious people will be reluctant to speak to you or speak in your presence. Rahul Gandhi, by concocting a conversation with President Macron, has lowered his own credibility and seriously hurt the image of an Indian politician before the world at large.”

Jaitley also accused the Congress president of trivialising the no-confidence motion debate and said “facts are always sacrosanct”. The finance minister said a vote of no-confidence against the government is not an occasion for frivolity.

“If a participant happens to be a president of a national political party nourishing prime ministerial aspirations, every word he speaks should be precious,” he wrote. “None should ever trivialise the debate. Those who desire to be Prime Minister never blend ignorance, falsehood and acrobatics.”

The minister said Gandhi’s lack of understanding was not confined only to basic matters and extended to the niceties of protocol as well. He accused the Congress president of being “ignorant of facts”. “But to insist on disclosure of financial details, which indirectly involves the disclosures of the strategic equipment on the aircraft, is to hurt national interest,” he added.

In his speech in Parliament, Gandhi attacked the Modi-led government, accusing it of neglecting farmer debts and being untruthful about the Rafale aircraft deal with France. He also questioned the prime minister’s links with certain businessmen. At the end of his speech, the Congress president walked up to the prime minister and hugged him. Taken aback for a moment, the prime minister shook his hand.

However, Jaitley said Gandhi had missed a great opportunity. “If this was his best argument for 2019, God help his party,” he added.