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The Opposition Congress on Sunday criticised the government for allegedly withholding information regarding the downing of fighter jets during the recent confrontation with Pakistan, stating

that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh should have informed Opposition leaders during the all-party meeting. Referring to the statements made by CDS General Anil Chauhan in Singapore, Congress

leader Jairam Ramesh said, “It would have been better if what he had spoken, the Defence Minister should have said it in the two all-party meetings he had chaired. Whatever Gen Chauhan has

said, this information should have been shared with the opposition leaders, and a special session of the Parliament should have been convened… We had to wait for General Chauhan to make

these revelations from Singapore.” Advertisement CDS Chauhan Saturday admitted losses of Indian aircraft in the recent confrontation with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor but rejected as

“absolutely incorrect” Islamabad’s claim of downing six jets. Advertisement Chauhan has said, “What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down.” “The good

part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and fly all our jets again, targeting at long

range,” the Chief of Defence Staff added. Ramesh said that after the Kargil war, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had set up a Kargil review Committee to assess the damages. “Three days

after the Kargil war ended, Prime Minister Vajpayee set up a Kargil Review Committee. The report was prepared by four members, including the father of EAM Dr S Jaishankar. This report was

tabled in Parliament. There are military issues which only the military can discuss, but there are political issues,” he remarked. Raising concerns over the Pakistan-China nexus, the

Congress leader said that the issue needs to be addressed in an all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the chair. He further pointed out that the issues the General Chauhan

raised during an interview with Bloomberg TV in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue not just impinge on military strategy but also foreign policy and economic and

diplomatic strategy. “We are supposed to be the mother of democracy. The issues that Gen Chauhan raised are critical and they impinge not just on military strategy, they impinge on foreign

policy, economic strategy, and diplomatic strategy,” he added. Advertisement