Gurugram: Participating in the debate on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terror attack, Congress MP Deepender Hooda expressed concern about the defence budget going down in proportion to India’s Gross Domestic Product.
Rs 6.81 lakh crore was allocated for defence for the year 2025-26, an increase of 9.5 percent over last year, which is just 1.9 percent of GDP, compared to 2.5 percent a decade ago, he said Monday.
“This is the lowest ever since 1962,” Hooda stated, blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for 11 years of decline in the defence budget.
Urging an immediate hike in defence allocations, Hooda batted for the armed forces to be equipped with modern weapons and fighter aircraft.
He pointed out the air force’s alarming decline in its fleet strength as it has dipped below the sanctioned 42 aquadrons. “More pilots are losing their lives in crashes than combat—two from Haryana were killed in three crashes in six months,” the Congress MP said, asking the government to adopt ideas from the opposition.
“The armed forces did their job (in Operation Sindoor), but did the ruling party do its job?” he said in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Citing Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul Singh who noted that defence equipment promised for January 2025 remains undelivered, Hooda said that the country is still dependent on others.
“With such resources, Operation Sindoor’s fate could have been altered,” Hooda said, adding that Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh’s statement on zero timely project completions indicates the government’s disregard of the Parliamentary Standing Committee reports.
The Modi government’s foreign policy also came under scanner as the Rohtak MP recalled the circumstances leading to Operation Sindoor’s sudden ceasefire on 10 May.
“The nation wished for an appropriate response, but a US President’s tweet put an end to it,” he mentioned, quoting Donald Trump’s “28 assertions” of facilitating the ceasefire via trade threats.
“The issue turned from terrorism to trade, with Trump referring to five airplane crashes and internationalisation of Kashmir. Our PM didn’t deny it ever,” Hooda said. “Donald ko chup karao, Donald ka muh band karao ya phir Hindustan mein McDonald’s ko band karao. (Silence Donald, shut Donald’s mouth, or shut down McDonald’s in India).”
Pakistan, he said, instead got loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“For the first time, a dacoit was appointed as in-charge of a police station,” he said, in reference to Pakistan chairing the Taliban Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in 2025 and serving as vice-chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the 15-nation UN body.
The Congress MP further slammed the Modi government for its inability to stop Pakistan from coming out of the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) grey list, unlike the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that did it in 2011.
Hooda reminded the government that China supported Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, as he targeted External Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar who recently visited the neighbouring country and endorsed Beijing taking over the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) presidency.
“When Pakistan’s army chief had lunch in the White House and trilateral discussions with China and Bangladesh took place, where was India’s voice?” he pointed out, citing that 81 percent of Pakistani and 72 percent of Bangladeshi arms are sourced from China.
He drew a comparison in India’s strong response in the face of American pressure during the 1971 Bangladesh war and the 1998 nuclear tests and contrasted it with the new “hand-washing” policy.
“The government must reveal which country stood with India—those it once called friends have washed their hands off,” the Congress MP said, demanding accountability from the Modi government.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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