Did India alert Pakistan about Operation Sindoor before strikes? 'Jaishankar being misquoted', says MEA

Fact checking department of the Press Information Bureau said EAM S Jaishankar was being misquoted and he has not made any such statement

Did India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar inform Pakistan before attacking the nine terror hubs under Operation Sindoor? This is what senior Congress leader and leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi asked on May 17.

Sharing a news clip, Gandhi said Jaishankar has “publicly” admitted to the Union government informing Islamabad before carrying out the strikes and asked on whose instruction it was done.

“Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it,” he said in a post on X, questioning who authorized it and what was India’s loss because that.

The EAM - who will not reply to what his US counterpart has been claiming - has made an extraordinary revelation. How he can continue in his position defies understanding.
The PM gave a clean chit to China publicly on June 19, 2020, and destroyed our negotiating position. The https://t.co/hzoP2x8l8z Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) May 17, 2025

However, soon after, the fact checking department of the Press Information Bureau said the minister was being misquoted and he has not made any such statement.

“Social media posts quoting EAM @DrSJaishankar are implying that India gave advance information to Pakistan about #OperationSindoor EAM is being misquoted, and he has not made this statement,” PIB said in a post on X.

Social media posts quoting EAM @DrSJaishankar are implying that India gave advance information to Pakistan about #OperationSindoor#PIBFactCheckEAM is being misquoted, and he has not made this statementhttps://t.co/DQriAgE56e https://t.co/05OiwE3kdV PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 16, 2025

Moreover, the ministry of external affairs, in a statement, said, "EAM (S Jaishankar) had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Op Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement."

India carried out strikes under Operation Sindoor deep inside Pakistan in the intervening night of May 6 and 7, targeting nine terror hubs. The operation was in response to the Pahalgam terrorist attack that led to the death of 26 civilians.

The strikes escalated into a conflict between the two nuclear-powered neighbours. Pakistan launched drone and missile attacks across various Indian cities, which were successfully neutralized by New Delhi’s armed forces. India, in response, struck various air bases in Pakistan and other military assets, paralyzing most of them.