New Delhi: Hours after Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan publicly acknowledged that Indian fighter jets were downed during the recent military confrontation with Pakistan, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led government, accusing it of misleading the public and demanding urgent accountability.

Kharge, in a post on X, said the CDS’s remarks had cleared the "fog of war" and raised "very important questions" that warranted discussion in a special session of Parliament.

“In the wake of the remarks made by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in Singapore in an interview, there are some very important questions which need to be asked. These can only be asked if a Special Session of the Parliament is immediately convened. The Modi Govt has misled the nation. The fog of war is now clearing,” he wrote.

General Chauhan, speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, confirmed that an unspecified number of Indian jets were downed during the hostilities, but said the armed forces swiftly corrected tactical mistakes and launched retaliatory long-range strikes against Pakistan.

“We made, remedied it, rectified it, and then implemented it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,” he had said.

Earlier in May, Pakistan had claimed it had shot down six Indian fighter jets — an assertion India had brushed aside as part of the fog of war.

Now, with the CDS’s remarks confirming losses, Kharge accused the government of hiding facts from the public.

“Our IAF pilots were risking their lives fighting the enemy. We have suffered some losses, but our pilots were safe,” Kharge said.

He also called for a Comprehensive Review of Defence Preparedness by an independent expert committee, similar to the Kargil Review Committee set up in 1999.

That committee had examined operational lapses during the Kargil conflict and made key recommendations for future readiness.

Kharge further brought up US President Donald Trump’s claim that he had mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan following the May conflict.

“While Trump is claiming ‘personal credit’ for the ceasefire understanding, PM Modi is busy with election campaigns,” Kharge remarked, calling Trump’s claim a “direct affront” to the 1972 Shimla Agreement, which bars third-party intervention in the Kashmir issue.

Trump had made the statement on May 10, just minutes before India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced a cessation of hostilities.

However, the Indian government has denied any role played by the US in facilitating the ceasefire.

Misri had stated that Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations had contacted his Indian counterpart requesting a halt to hostilities after sustaining heavy damage to military infrastructure.

In his post, Kharge also demanded clarity on the terms of the ceasefire agreement, asking whether India and Pakistan had been "hyphenated" again in strategic terms.

“140 Cr Patriotic Indians deserve to know this,” he said.