As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again “warned” Pakistan that ‘Operation Sindoor’ was ongoing, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi dared him to declare in Parliament that U.S. President Donald Trump is lying about brokering peace between the neighboring states.
The contentious proceedings of the Indian parliament saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government maintaining it had taught Pakistan a “lesson” during their recent military standoff as opposition lawmakers slammed it for weakening India’s position by “forcing” the military to avoid any military targets. India, said Gandhi, could not afford Modi as prime minister.
For his part, Modi claimed success in tackling the three terrorists who killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam on April 22. Supporting his claims, Home Minister Amit Shah announced that three of the terrorists were killed, adding two had been identified as members of the now-defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He went onto claim this was backed by “voter IDs” from Pakistan and “Pakistani chocolate” in their possession. It remains unclear what “voter IDs” he was referring to, as Pakistan has no such official identification.
Farooq Abdullah, a former chief minister of India-held Kashmir, welcomed Shah’s claim. However, he questioned whether these were indeed the same men or distraction from the government to avoid accountability.
Modi also remained silent on the losses of Indian aircraft in the air battle with the Pakistan Air Force, despite Gandhi demanding the government make clear the costs of the conflict. India, said the Indian prime minister, had called Pakistan’s “nuclear bluff,” showing the world it would not tolerate threats of escalation.
He reiterated claims of India striking “terror bases deep inside Pakistan” after the Pahalgam attack, adding Islamabad’s “threats” had not deterred Delhi’s response. He also claimed U.S. Vice President JD Vance had informed him of a “major threat” from Pakistan, though Indian military officials had previously said there was never a moment of nuclear threat from either side.
“Pakistan had some inkling of Indian action and started issuing nuclear threats, but could do nothing when terror targets were hit,” claimed Modi, reiterating that Delhi would respond to “bullets with cannons.” This, he asserted, revealed a shift in India’s strategic posture. “Only three countries spoke for Pakistan at the U.N.,” he said, but failed to mention how many spoke for India.
Gandhi noted this, pointing out that while many countries had condemned terrorism, none had condemned Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack. “No leader of any country asked India to stop any action in its defense against terror,” Modi maintained, though failed to explicitly declare that U.S. President Donald Trump had brokered a ceasefire, as earlier challenged by Gandhi. “If Trump is lying, let Modi say he is lying,” the opposition leader had said. He further noted that the stated policy of the government had made it easy for any terrorist to force India into war by merely staging an attack.
Modi also claimed ‘Operation Sindoor’ had boosted global demand for India-made munitions, adding Pakistani military officials had sought a halt to hostilities. He also targeted the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, once again saying “blood and water cannot flow together.”