Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he would take on the educational expenses of 22 children from Jammu and Kashmir who were orphaned following the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May, Indian media outlets reported Tuesday.
The children are from the Poonch district, which borders the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.
Also on Tuesday, Indian authorities said three militants suspected of involvement in the Pahalgam attack that sparked the conflict were killed.
What else do we know about Gandhi's plan to 'adopt' Poonch orphans?
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, the state unit of Gandhi's Congress party, the political leader will sponsor the education of the children until they graduate.
"Rahul Gandhi visited Poonch in the aftermath of the devastating shelling and visited the bereaved families," Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra said on Monday evening.
"He asked us to prepare a list of school-going children who lost one or both parents, especially the breadwinners, and accordingly, we submitted the list to him."
The border district of Poonch alone saw 13 civilian fatalities among the total 28 deaths reported after India and Pakistan carried out shelling and drone attacks against each other over four days in May.
According to Karra, the first installment of the financial aid for the children will be released on Wednesday, Indian media reported.
Gandhi began serving as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament, shortly after an April 2024 election that saw opposition parties see an increase in their share of seats. He had previously served in other roles in the Congress party, including as party leader.
Indian parliament debates military strikes
Following the Pahalgam attack, the Indian military launched the strikes — dubbed "Operation Sindoor" — on what it said was "terror infrastructure" inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
India's action was in response to a deadly attack in April on tourists in the town of Pahalgam in Kashmir, in which 26 people, mainly Hindu men, were killed.
A fiery debate on India's "Operation Sindoor" was underway on Monday during the monsoon session of the country's parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to make a statement on India's military strikes at the session later on Tuesday.
