Stop 'undermining' armed forces' valour, 'jeopardising' India's security: BJP to Rahul on Op Sindoor

New Delhi: The BJP on Friday launched a scathing attack at Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and asked him to stop "undermining" the Indian Armed Forces' valour and "jeopardising" the country's security by making "irresponsible remarks" about Operation Sindoor.

Calling Gandhi "Nishan-e-Pakistan", BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused the Congress leader of carrying forward the "agenda of countries inimical to India" and said his remarks on the India-Pakistan conflict were being used by Islamabad to "defame" India.

"Rahul Gandhi, you decide which side you are on. You have to decide whether you are India's leader of opposition or Pakistan's Nishan-e-Pakistan," Bhatia said at a press conference.

The BJP's charge came a day after Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having "compromised" India's "prestige" and asked him why he sacrificed the nation's interests by agreeing to halt military hostilities against Pakistan.

"Rahul Gandhi, stop undermining the valour and commitment of our brave armed forces, stop asking questions which shouldn't be asked. They jeopardise national security," Bhatia urged the Congress leader.

He said Gandhi's remarks could not be dismissed as "juvenile behaviour".

"It has been the core character of Rahul Gandhi to intentionally ask such questions, taking forward the agenda of nations which are inimical to our country," he alleged.

The BJP spokesperson also lashed out at Gandhi over his remarks that India's foreign policy had "collapsed" and asked him if the joint statement of then prime minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza in Sharm el Sheikh after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack that Pakistan was also a victim terror was the Congress' diplomacy.

Terming the Sharm el Sheikh joint statement as "irresponsible behaviour" of the erstwhile Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Bhatia said it was made against the "established policy" of India and asked Gandhi if he had forgotten it.

"Rahul Gandhi, in his own eyes, feels that he is the best diplomat that the world has ever seen. But in the eyes of Indian citizens, he doesn't even know the 'D' of diplomacy. He is acting like an enemy of our country," the BJP spokesperson charged.

Gandhi on Friday claimed that India's foreign policy had "collapsed" and asked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to explain why India was hyphenated with Pakistan and who asked US President Donald Trump to "mediate" between the two South Asian neighbours.

Bhatia slammed Gandhi and the Congress for making "irresponsible and immature statements" on the Operation Sindoor, describing them as "far from truth", and said it had become their character.

At a time Operation Sindoor is underway, Rahul Gandhi is making "careless statements" and asking the Indian Air Force how many fighter planes were shot down during the operation even though Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, while replying to a related a media query earlier, had said it was not prudent to answer such a question during a combat scenario, he said.

"Rahul Gandhi, your basic character is anti-India and one that breaks the morale of the country's armed forces," he charged. "Why did you start hating the country while hating Prime Minister Modi?" Bhatia alleged that the Congress and Gandhi were "betraying" India by repeatedly asking such questions and seeking information from the government and the armed forces when Operation Sindoor was still underway.

"Is it not a conspiracy against India? Shouldn't a leader of opposition know when to ask what kind of question? he asked.