‘Did Modi accept that he failed to tackle Pakistan?’

Has Prime Minister Narendra Modi admitted that the air strikes on Pakistan has not yielded the intended results? Is the prime minister underestimating the power of the country's air force? Has the Prime Minister assumed that India’s leadership has failed in its action against Pakistan? And at a time when the soldiers have sacrificed thier lives for the country, shouldn’t Modi be ashamed of making such statements?

On Saturday, the Prime Minister admitted indirectly in a programme organised by a news channel that the actions of his government against Pakistan have proved to be unsuccessful. “The country is feeling the absence of Rafale. If Rafale was with us, the result probably would have been different. First due to politics of self-interest and later due to politics per se, the country has suffered a lot.”

This statement of the Prime Minister means that the attack by India’s Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft on Balakot in Pakistan has failed. While extolling the virtues of the Rafale jet, our Prime Minister forgot that the IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, risking his own life, had shot down Pakistan's latest F-16 aircraft with the third generation MiG-21 aircraft. It was after doing so that he fell in the enemy territory and was captured by the Pakistan Army.

PM Modi forgot to mention this incident at the programme, but by only raising the topic of Rafale, has he has undermined the capabilities of our Sukhois and MiG-21s? Doesn’t this amount to demoralising our Air Force?

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has justly raised the question that he was not ashamed while speaking all this? He attacked PM Modi saying, “Dear PM, Have you no shame at all? You stole 30,000 cr and gave it to your friend Anil. You are solely responsible for the delay in the arrival of the Rafale jets. You are why the brave IAF pilots like Wing Cdr. Abhinandan, are risking their lives flying outdated jets.”

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury also launched an attack on the PM and said, “Our brave pilots and IAF have always done a tremendous job for the country, and the past week has been no different. It is when Modi makes national security about partisan political pettiness, that it hurts India’s prestige and does a disservice to our brave soldiers.”

“Also, if Modi says that the result of this skirmish would have been different, is he saying that India under him failed against Pakistan? So what were all the official statements about? Stop insulting our brave soldiers and pilots, Mr Modi,” Yechury said.

“IAF asked for 126 Rafales, Modi brought them down to only 36. And no other jet has been bought since. The delay in buying Rafale is solely because Modi got the 'new formula' to help his crony.”