Modi 'questioning' airstrike in Pakistan, says Congress

'Modi said had Rafale jets been there, results would have been different. What is the meaning of this?'

The Indian National Congress claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "questioned" the recent airstrikes in Pakistan after his comments on Rafale fighter jets.

On Saturday, the Indian PM had said that they "badly felt the absence of Rafale fighter jets [in our air force fleet]. If we had Rafale, the scenario would have been different".

Following this comment, the spokesperson of India's Congress party Manish Taweri said: "The Prime Minister has himself questioned the air strike. He said had the Rafale jets been there (with the IAF), the results would have been different. What is the meaning of this?"



Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian warplanes on Wednesday – a day after Indian aircraft violated Pakistan’s airspace and dropped their payload in a jungle of Balakot district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Modi said he would like to make it very clear that in the past, the country ‘suffered’ due to vested interest over the Rafale jets.

The Modi administration signed a multibillion-dollar deal with French defence manufacturer Dassault Aviation to acquire 36 Rafale jets in an effort to overhaul the Indian Air Force. The opposition accuses Modi of wrongdoing in the deal.

This story originally appeared on Times of India