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Indian DGMO spoke to Pak counterpart after strikes at 9 locations, MP panel told
There was no official word on the meeting held behind closed doors beyond a social media post by Jaishankar
The opposition Congress’s allegation that the government tipped off Pakistan before military strikes on terrorist infrastructure on May 7 was characterised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar as dishonest and a misrepresentation on Monday, people familiar with the matter said.
The issue, which the Congress has repeatedly used to target Jaishankar in recent days, figured in a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on external affairs that was chaired by the minister. The meeting focused on Operation Sindoor, launched to target terrorist facilities on Pakistani soil in retaliation for last month’s Pahalgam terror attack, and India’s new approach to combating cross-border terror, the people said on condition of anonymity.
There was no official word on the meeting held behind closed doors beyond a social media post by Jaishankar, who said he chaired the meeting to discuss Operation Sindoor and India’s zero-tolerance policy against all forms of terrorism. “Underlined the importance of sending a strong and united message in that regard,” he said without giving details.
When the representatives of the Congress brought up the issue of the government reportedly tipping off Pakistan before the strikes on May 7, Jaishankar described the allegations as “dishonest” and a “misrepresentation of events”, the people said.
The government provided a detailed sequence of the events of May 7. India’s Director General of Military Operations contacted his Pakistani counterpart only after the strikes on terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to the people.
The government side said there was no conversation between the Indian and Pakistani sides other than the contact between the DGMOs, and this too was done only after the strikes on May 7, the people said.
The meeting of the parliamentary panel was also attended by ministers of state Kirti Vardhan Singh and Pabitra Margherita and foreign secretary Vikram Misri. Among the MPs who attended the meeting were MM Abdulla of the DMK, GS Aujla and KC Venugopal of the Congress, and Jaya Bachchan of the Samajwadi Party.
At an event to mark the inauguration of the new embassy of Honduras in New Delhi on May 15, Jaishankar had told TV news channels that at the start of Operation Sindoor, “we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorist infrastructure, we are not striking at the military”. Though the external affairs ministry clarified that Jaishankar was referring to the conversation between the DGMOs after the military strikes on May 7, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, used the remarks to target the minister.
According to the people, Jaishankar called for national unity in line with the interactions that seven all-party delegations are having with interlocutors in countries around the world.
The government side gave the parliamentary panel a detailed rundown on the new strategy for combating cross-border terrorism backed by Pakistan, including the diplomatic outreach through the all-party delegations sent to different parts of the world, the people said.
India’s military strikes on terrorist infrastructure exposed Pakistan as the “epicentre of terrorism”, and the Pakistani side was unable to protect the camps of groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the people said. The people added that India’s projection of these military strikes as an operation against terrorism, and not against Pakistan, led to support from the world community, barring three countries – Turkey, Azerbaijan, and China.
Members of the parliamentary panel questioned whether India’s decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, made a day after the Pahalgam terror attack, was symbolic or would be kept in place. The government side responded that the pact is in abeyance and MPs would be briefed whenever further steps are taken in the context of the treaty, the people said.
The MPs also raised questions about US President Donald Trump’s claims about brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and his efforts to mediate on the Kashmir issue. The government side made it clear that the US and other countries, encouraging India to have a dialogue with Pakistan, had been told that “terror and talks” cannot go together, the people said. They added that the government side made it clear that India will only talk to Pakistan about the return of illegally occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir and the handing over of wanted terrorists.
