Modi himself questioning air strike in Pakistan: Congress

Team Udayavani, Mar 3, 2019, 10:41 AM IST

New Delhi: The Congress Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself “questioned” the recent anti-terror air strike in Pakistan by his remarks that the country is feeling the absence of Rafale fighter jets as the results could have been different if India had these aircraft.

The party also said it had neither sought proof of such strike earlier nor is it asking for it now.

“The prime minister has himself questioned the air strike. He said had the Rafale jets been there (with the IAF), the results would have been different. What is the meaning of this?” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari posed during a press conference here.

Asserting that the prime minister should himself explain what would have been different with Rafale jets, he held Modi responsible for the delay in induction of the French-made fighter jets into the IAF by “cancelling” the earlier negotiations.

Modi had on Saturday hit out at the opposition for doubting the armed forces on the anti-terror air strike in Pakistan and said the country was feeling the absence of Rafale fighter jets as the results could have been different if India had these aircraft.

“India is feeling the absence of Rafale. The entire country is saying in one voice today, if we had Rafale probably the result would have been different. The country has suffered a lot due to selfish interests earlier and now politics over Rafale,” he had said at the India Today Conclave.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the prime minister of being “solely responsible” for the delay in arrival of Rafale jets.

“Dear PM, Have you no shame at all? YOU stole 30,000 Crore and gave it to your friend Anil. YOU are solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the RAFALE jets. YOU are WHY brave IAF pilots like Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, are risking their lives flying outdated jets (sic),” Gandhi had said on Twitter.