The Congress asked the government on Saturday to truthfully tell the country what losses were suffered during the four-day conflict with Pakistan after Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan acknowledged aircraft loss in the hostilities.
Gen Chauhan, however, dismissed as 'absolutely incorrect' Islamabad's claim of downing six Indian jets.
Latching on to the comment by the chief of defence staff (CDS), Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy said the country wanted to know whether any aircraft were downed during the conflict, especially in the wake of the CDS' 'admission'.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that on July 29, 1999, the Vajpayee government set up the Kargil Review Committee under the chairmanship of 'India's strategic affairs guru K Subrahmanyam, whose son is now our external affairs minister'.
This was just three days after the Kargil war ended, he said.
'The committee submitted its detailed report five months later. The report titled 'From Surprise to Reckoning' was then laid on the Table of both Houses of Parliament on February 23, 2000, after the necessary redactions.
'Will the Modi government now take a similar step in light of what the Chief of Defence Staff has just revealed in Singapore?' Ramesh posed in a post on X.
Soon after CDS Gen Chouhan's remarks, made during an interview with Bloomberg TV, got published, Reddy took the opportunity to say, "It appears very clearly a Rafale fighter aircraft was downed in the four-day operations."
"Today, an hour ago, CDS Gen Chauhan has confirmed that a Rafale aircraft was brought down in the four-day operation. The fact that the fighter aircraft were down is something that the Government of India needs to stop denying. The CDS himself mentioned that."
At a press conference, the Congress leader said, "Earlier, Air Marshal (Awadesh Kumar) Bharti had mentioned it indirectly in his briefing along with the DGMO. He specifically said that 'losses are normal in combat; the mission objective of the operation has been achieved, and all pilots have come home'."
He said when Rahul Gandhi first pointed it out in a question to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, it was 'very bizarre and strange' that the ruling party functionaries at all levels accused him of not being patriotic.
"We are happy that the objectives (of Operation Sindoor) have been achieved, but the fact that the fighter aircraft were down is something that needs to be... the Government of India should stop denying that. The CDS himself has mentioned it and Air Marshall Bharti had also done so," Reddy said.
The Telangana minister reiterated that the Congress supports the Indian armed forces in every endeavour.
"The party congratulates them as they have done a great job and we are proud of them, we salute them," he said.
"Today the whole country must realise that for some reason the Government of India were not upfront with whatever happened. The other thing that needs reassessment by the government is that most of the firing in the four-day operation was done by respective countries from within their borders; still, we lost our aircraft.
"I think, this needs serious reassessment of technology so that lessons are learnt and we go forward and improve in those aspects," Reddy, a former IAF pilot, said.
He refuted allegations that his party was playing politics over the issue and said that after every war or conflict, all nation discloses what losses they inflicted on the enemy and what losses they suffered.
"We are not playing politics. We are proud of our armed forces' decisive victory over Pakistan. We want to know the truth about the reverses for lessons for future conflicts."
"The moot point is every time we have raised this, they have said we are anti-patriotic, anti-national. Are they going to accuse Gen Chauhan of this now," he posed.
Reddy claimed the government was trying to, somehow, not come out clearly with what really has happened. "We feel the government must be more transparent on every significant event that took place throughout the India-Pak operation," he said, adding the way forward must be clear and transparent.
"We are very proud of our armed forces and we have seen the satellite pictures. Please tell us how many Pakistan Air Force aircraft you have downed and Indian aircraft that were down.
"A government has to be transparent. Accountability is normal in a democracy. This is not about patriotism. We are more patriotic. Our first family, the Gandhi family, have suffered and have made huge sacrifices for the integrity of the country and these people question us. This is really shocking," the Congress leader said.
Gen Chauhan, in the interview, asserted it is more important to find out why the aircraft were lost so that the Indian military could improve tactics and hit back again.
"I think what is important is not the jet being downed but why they were being downed," he said.
The CDS was asked whether India lost combat jets during the four-day military clashes with Pakistan earlier this month.
"The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made; remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days. We flew all our jets again targeting at long range," he said.
"Absolutely incorrect," Gen Chauhan said when asked about Pakistan's claim of shooting down six Indian jets during Operation Sindoor.
Previously, Indian Air Force's Director General of Air Operations, Air Marshall AK Bharti, acknowledged that "losses are a part of combat" and said all IAF pilots returned home safely.
Air Marshall Bharti made the remarks at a media briefing on May 11 when asked about Indi'a aircraft losses during Operation Sindoor.
Gen Chauhan is in Singapore to participate in the Shangri-La Dialogue.
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