During the debate over a hotly contested political issue of whether India provided prior notice to Pakistan prior to carrying out military attacks on May 7, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday dug up an old document related to the 1991 India-Pakistan military agreement.
It comes to light that the then government had signed a pact with Pakistan before sharing information beforehand.
Dubey's disclosure follows as row mounts over External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar's alleged comments that India had warned Pakistan before Operation Sindoor. The Congress party has since opened scathing attacks against the Modi government, terming the advance notification of the strike not as an error but a grave breach.
Gone to X, the BJP lawmaker attacked Rahul Gandhi and the Congress for what he termed as their hypocrisy regarding the ceasefire 'understanding' between the two nations after Operation Sindoor.
Along with the letter, Dubey penned, "Rahul Gandhi ji, this is a deal done in your government's time. Your party-supported government made a deal in 1991 that India and Pakistan will share information about any attack or troop movement. Is this deal treason?"
He also asked, "Congress supports Pakistan, do you think it is appropriate to make derogatory remarks against own Foreign Minister."
Referring to IANS, Dubey also attacked the Congress party's description of Indira Gandhi as a more powerful leader than Narendra Modi by saying, "It is the Congress party and govt which surrendered to Pakistan."
He explained, "The 1991 accord was signed when your (Congress) backed government was in place. It came into effect in 1994 when Narasimha Rao was PM. In that accord, you told us where our Army would be stationed, where the Navy would be stationed, how the Air Force would act, and that all this had to be brought to notice 15 days in advance, isn't that treason?…"
Conversely, the Congress party ridiculed these claims as eyewash and an attempt to mislead the people.
While reacting to the charges, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate made it clear that the 1991 agreement which Dubey referred to was not entered into during the Congress rule but a month following the end of the Rajiv Gandhi government.
“Nishikant Dubey lacks the correct information and repeatedly displays his ignorance. The agreement he is referring to was signed around April 1991 and it was meant for peacetime,” she stated.
Shrinate emphasized that since the agreement was made during peaceful times, unlike the ongoing Operation Sindoor, it validates Rahul Gandhi’s claims and indicates that the government is clearly on the defensive.
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