Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale, on Thursday stated that he was not aware of any surgical strike carried out during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government (2004-14) under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and that there was no information available about it.

Before being part of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Republic Party of India (Athawale), headed by the minister, was a constituent of the Congress-led UPA government.

Referring to Operation Sindoor, Athawale said, "Before this, another surgical strike had been carried out during the Narendra Modi government only. Congress leaders might say that a surgical strike had been conducted during Manmohan Singh's tenure. But there is no such information. I was with the Congress and part of the UPA at that time. I do not have any information about any such surgical strike."