On July 29, finally, Operation Sindoor was debated in the Lok Sabha. The opposition parties had been demanding a special session of Parliament to discuss it since May 10. As expected, it was less of a parliamentary debate than predictable rhetoric at rival political public rallies.

The speech of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Rahul Gandhi, was preceded by that of his sister, Priyanka Gandhi. The LoP kept his arguments simple. He used information shared by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, in two interviews with international agencies on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31.

General Chauhan broached the Pakistani allegation that they shot down a number of Indian Air Force jets as the 4-day war began on May 7. He conceded “there were losses” but explained that the eventual outcome mattered more than any single incident. He added that a tactical mistake was quickly rectified, and the Indian retaliation duly escalated, leading to Pakistan seeking a ceasefire.

Rahul Gandhi, using the Chauhan argument, alleged political interference compelled the Indian defence forces to fight with their hands tied behind their backs. Furthermore, he said, India has not forthrightly denied repeated claims by US president Donald Trump of having mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, employing the threat of trade tariffs.

He quoted his grandmother Indira Gandhi’s defiance of the US during the 1971 India-Pakistan war, which led to the creation of........

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