'Not hitting Pakistani military was historic mistake': Deepender Hooda says in Lok Sabha; criticises government lapse

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Deepender Hooda on Monday said the government had made a historic mistake by targeting only terror infrastructure and not striking the Pakistani military, asserting that there is no difference between Pakistan’s forces, government, and terrorists.

During a debate on Operation Sindoor in Lok Sabha, the Haryana MP said not hitting the Pakistani military was "in a way a clean chit" to Islamabad.

"The biggest strategic mistake during Operation Sindoor was when the foreign minister said that we were not targeting military or civilian infrastructure," Deepender Hooda said in the Lok Sabha.

"By making that statement, the government effectively gave a clean chit to the Pakistani army and government," he said.

Hooda further said: "You have repeatedly said, and even the world acknowledges, that there is no difference between Pakistan’s government, its military, and the terrorists. They are one and the same. Yet, by declaring that only terror infrastructure was being targeted, you ended up sending a different message to the world. That was a historic mistake."

As Parliament continued its debate on Operation Sindoor on Monday, the government’s cross-border counter-terror strike after the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi sharply criticised defence minister Rajnath Singh’s speech, accusing the government of dodging basic questions about the April 22 incident.

While the government laid out the details of what India achieved by the Operation Sindoor, the opposition kept attacking the Centre over internal security lapses that led to the terror attack in Pahalgam's Baisaran meadow and Trump's repeated ceasefire claims.