'Why stopped Operation Sindoor?' Congress asks Modi after air chief's revelation on planes hit

New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he stopped Operation Sindoor on May 10 and under whose pressure, the Indian Air Force revealed that it shot down five Pakistani fighter jets during the operation.

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh said in Bengaluru that the IAF shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and a large aircraft during Operation Sindoor, describing it as the largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill by India.

"In view of the new revelations made by the Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh today, it becomes all the more shocking why the PM suddenly stopped Operation Sindoor on the evening of May 10th," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

"Where did the pressure on the PM come from and why did he capitulate so very soon?" he asked.

The remarks by the air chief were made at the 16th Air Chief Marshal L M Katre Memorial Lecture here.

"We have an indication of at least one AWC in that AWC hangar, and a few F-16s, which are under maintenance there. We have at least five fighters confirmed killed and one large aircraft, which could be either an aircraft or an AWC, which was taken at a distance of about 300 kilometres. This is actually the largest ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about," Amar Preet Singh said.

The operation also resulted in a large number of drones and some of the missiles falling into Indian territory.

"So the airfield was attacked and the main building where the planning goes on, which was also used as the civil terminal building at times. As far as the Sukkur airbase is concerned, we attacked the UAB hangar and radar site," he said.

Under Operation Sindoor in May, the IAF carried out precision strikes on multiple targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir linked to terror groups.

The operation was aimed at destroying terror infrastructure and neutralising key operatives as a consequence of the April 22 Pahalgam carnage.