“We Were Prepared”: DGMO Counters Rahul Gandhi’s Claim on Pakistan Being Informed Before Operation Sindoor

New Delhi: Amid fierce political sparring over the timing of India’s communication with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the Indian Army’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai has refuted claims that New Delhi informed Islamabad before the strike.

The clarification follows Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s accusation that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar admitted to informing Pakistan prior to the operation. Gandhi, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), alleged: “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result?”

Addressing the media on May 11, Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai said that India attempted to communicate its intent to strike at terror hubs only in the immediate aftermath of the operation’s initiation, not beforehand.

“Even though we did attempt to reach out and communicate our compulsions to strike at the heart of terror to my counterpart in the immediate wake of Operation Sindoor, the request was brusquely turned down with an intimation that a severe response was inevitable and in the offing. We were, of course, prepared,” DGMO Ghai clarified.

Operation Sindoor was launched by India on May 7, following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives. The Indian Armed Forces targeted key terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), eliminating over 100 militants affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also strongly rebutted Rahul Gandhi’s assertion, labeling it as an “utter misrepresentation of facts.”

“EAM had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” said the MEA’s External Publicity (XP) Division in a formal statement.

The controversy flared up after Gandhi posted a video of EAM Jaishankar speaking to the media during the inauguration of the Embassy of Honduras in Delhi. Gandhi interpreted Jaishankar’s words as an admission of pre-operation disclosure to Pakistan.

However, both the MEA and DGMO have now clarified that the outreach to Pakistan occurred after Operation Sindoor was already underway, as part of India’s diplomatic and military protocol, not a warning in advance.