New Delhi Opposition lawmakers in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday continued to question the government on the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22 and Operation Sindoor, the military offensive launched against Pakistan in its wake, seeking explanations on how terrorists infiltrated into the federal territory and why intelligence authorities failed to detect them.
Prominent lawmaker Kapil Sibal, an independent, said the government needed to answer the air force’s concerns made in public about the paucity of fighter jets and equipment, which, he said, compromised the country’s military capabilities.
“I will only talk of data. We are having this discussion so that there won’t be another attack like Pahalgam and whether we have enough power to destroy Pakistan. In October 2024, air chief marshal Amar Preet Singh addressed the air force’s declining squadron strength, which had reached 31, the lowest since 1965,” Sibal said.
Sibal cited the air chief as saying that “we are committed to fighting with whatever we have” and said: “This is the state of our air force.” The MP also sought the government’s answers to the air chief’s statement last year, in which he said “at the moment, we’re badly off in terms of numbers”.
Questioning the country’s defence preparedness, Sibal said India’s Rafale jets were “4.5 generation” fighters. “China has announced launching a sixth-generation fighter in 2025 while we are looking for a fifth-generation aircraft in 2035.”
{{/usCountry}}Questioning the country’s defence preparedness, Sibal said India’s Rafale jets were “4.5 generation” fighters. “China has announced launching a sixth-generation fighter in 2025 while we are looking for a fifth-generation aircraft in 2035.”
{{/usCountry}}Home minister Amit Shah had reviewed the security situation of Jammu and Kashmir in April but he didn’t invite the Union Territory’s chief minister Omar Abdullah, Sibal said.
Slamming the government, Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal said the Pahalgam terror attack was a “collective pain” but “national unity should not become a shield to protect the government from valid criticism”.
Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s response in the lower house on Tuesday, Jha wondered why Modi said he would “represent India” in his speech. “One represents India in international forums. The PM should have represented the government. Questions are being asked of the government, not of Bharat Mata (mother India).”
The Opposition MPs spoke during an ongoing discussion in Parliament on Operation Sindoor. Responding to the discussion in the lower house on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said no world leader had forced India to stop its military campaign against Pakistan as Opposition lawmakers sought answers on President Trump’s repeated claims that he brokered a ceasefire using trade as a lever.
In response to the attack in Pahalgam, in which 26 people were killed, India launched what it called precision air strikes to destroy terror bases in Pakistan.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Thackeray’s Sanjay Raut said the government should have at least rescued Kulbhushan Jhadav, an Indian national held by Pakistan on charges of spying, during Operation Sindoor. “The question is who will take responsibility for the loss of lives in Pahalgam? Will it be (Jawaharlal) Nehru or Trump? Nehru doesn’t let the BJP live or sleep.”
Lawmaker Javed Ali Khan of the Samajwadi Party said instead of a discussion on Operation Sindoor, there should have been a discussion on the security lapses that led to the Pahalgam terror attack. “The government has named several nations, saying all of them supported India’s actions. The truth is that they have only condemned the Pahalgam terror attack but no country in the world has named Pakistan,” he said.