'PM Modi using armed forces to protect his image; must show courage to rebut Trump's claims'

Criticising the government for its handling of Operation Sindoor, which was India's response to the Pahalgam terror attack, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that the government lacked the political will to fight Pakistan and, because of that, asked the armed forces to exercise restrain who went into operation with their hands tied behind their backs.

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Asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not calling US President Donald Trump a liar despite him repeatedly claiming that he had mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Congress leader also said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had erred by comparing Operation Sindoor with the 1971 war between the two countries. Beginning his speech during the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Gandhi extended his condolences to those who were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack and said the opposition INDIA bloc decided, as one unit, to back the forces and the government.

Rahul Gandhi accused PM Modi of using the armed forces to protect his image after the Pahalgam attack and dared him to rebut US President Donald Trump's India-Pakistan ceasefire claims.

"If Modi ji has even 50 per cent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament - Donald Trump is lying," he said. Gandhi also said that if the government had listened to his statement in Lok Sabha a few months ago on China and Pakistan fusing together, they would "not have lost five aircraft" during Oper ation Sindoor.

He claimed the government revealed sensitive details about Operation Sindoor to Pakistan, soon after it was launched.