Congress Divided Over Rahul Gandhi and Pawan Khera’s Remarks on EAM Jaishankar:

Suspense crime, Digital Desk : The Congress party is exhibiting early symptoms of intra-party discord following Rahul Gandhi and Pawan Khera’s harsh take on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s comments. Some members believe that Gandhi's comments were quite overboard and Khera’s analogy of Jaishankar being an "informer" for Pakistan was out of line in the first place.

Jaishankar's Statement Analyzed By Rahul Gandhi

During his recent interactions, Gandhi asked why India made it a point to notify Pakistan of their strikes on the terrorist infrastructure and how many aircraft were lost due to these actions. He termed this an “act of crime” and made allegations that the government was concealing information. Gandhi made this statement when Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was briefing the Parliament’s External Affairs Committee which has Shashi Tharoor as the chair.

Pawan Khera Takes the Attack Further

At a press conference, Khera took the criticism up a notch. He wondered why the government was informing Pakistan for the forewarning and how this could have aided terrorists in avoiding capture. Carrying on the long-informant style of Jaishankar, he branded this act as treasonous as well as informatic espionage.

Issues Among Congress Members

Some Congress leaders disagree with this approach. Some believe that the so-called label that has been ‘informer’ has gone too far. One leader mentioned that it is okay to be critical, but going way beyond the limits will only hurt the initial stance. Others noted that the party ought to direct its focus on some intelligence blunders or strategical blunders, like the reaction to the Pahalgam attack, or the way the ceasefire was treated.

Was the ‘Informer’ Claim an Official Line?

A Congress Working Committee member noted that it is Khera’s comment, whether it was sanctioned or he spoke on a whim, is unclear. He pointed out that while being critical has its place, there is a need for criticism to be strategic in nature.

Gandhi’s Claims Raise More Questions

This leader said that the whole airstrike loss Jaishankar is said to be suffering under the blame for is ‘concerning’ which in itself is ‘problematic.’ He reasoned out that some of the particulars are not exactly common knowledge and focusing on this vastly changes the scope.

As previously noted, Rahul Gandhi was believed to talk about Pakistan’s selection of aircraft and missiles and China’s part in it. So long as the remarks from Jaishankar weren’t made, the party decided to withhold stating those remarks to the public.

MEA clarifies Jaishankar’s statements

On Friday, Jaishankar stated that India had communicated to Pakistan regarding the targeting of only terrorist installations and not military ones. This communication took place after the bombing began so as not to elicit a military counterstrike. Still, Gandhi construed this as preemptive notification to commence the operation.

Jaishankar was quoted out of context by the MEA. The Externl Minister is supposed to give a statement which has a diﬀerence of only one statement, lines across straits – under way refers to the order that was issue to commence strikes not preemptively initiate them. The Ministry of External Affairs appeared to take collective action against the Congress party for falsifying the timeline.