NEW DELHI: The Indian Embassy in Indonesia on Sunday clarified that media reports had “quoted out of context” remarks made by Defence Attaché Captain Shiv Kumar during a seminar on Operation Sindoor. Captain Shiv Kumar had outlined the Indian military’s initial response during the early stages of Operation Sindoor while speaking at a seminar hosted by an Indonesian university.In a statement posted on X, the embassy clarified that the officer’s remarks were “quoted out of context” and that media coverage had misrepresented the intent and focus of the presentation.“We have seen media reports regarding a presentation made by India’s defence attaché to Indonesia at a seminar. His remarks have been quoted out of context, and the media reports are a misrepresentation of the intention and thrust of the presentation made by the speaker,” the embassy said.
According to the clarification, the presentation highlighted a key tenet of India’s civil-military structure, that the Indian Armed Forces operate under the authority of civilian political leadership. It pointedly noted this contrasts with practices in “some other countries in our neighbourhood”.The embassy further said that the officer had referred to Operation Sindoor, explaining that the objective was to target terrorist infrastructure, and that India’s military response was non-escalatory.Earlier in the day, Congress had cited the reported comments of India’s defence attache to Indonesia and accused the government of having “misled” the country.The party also asked why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi “refusing” to preside over an all-party meeting to take the Opposition into confidence and why has the demand for a special session of Parliament been rejected.
