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Congress calls Operation Sindoor delegations Centre's ‘weapons of mass distraction’
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the Centre's move to send delegations on Operation Sindoor abroad is a “meaningless optical exercise”.
The Congress on Thursday said that the Centre's move to send delegations on Operation Sindoor abroad is a “meaningless optical exercise” and termed it the government's “weapons of mass distraction.”
Speaking with PTI, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi call a special session of Parliament to clarify the ceasefire claims made by US President Donald Trump.
"The continued refusal of the PM to call a session of Parliament and meanwhile send a delegation of 50 MPs to different countries...is all domestic optics and meaningless," Ramesh said.
"India and Pakistan have WMDs (weapons of mass destruction). India has one more class of WMD that Pakistan does not have -- weapon of mass distraction. The sending of these delegations is part of the WMD exercise," Ramesh added, according to PTI.
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India carried out precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure in Pakistan early on May 7. The strikes were in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
They also sparked a series of attacks and counter-attacks across the western border, involving fighter jets, missiles, armed drones, and fierce artillery and rocket duels. In one such counterattack on the night of May 9-10, the air force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. After four days of fighting, military hostilities were stopped on May 10 as the two nations reached an understanding.
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On May 10, Trump announced that India and Pakistan agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks "mediated" by Washington. Since then, he has been repeatedly claiming that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.
However, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has clarified that the understanding was the result of direct negotiations between New Delhi and Islamabad.
On terrorists involved in Pahalgam attack
Speaking to PTI, Jairam Ramesh also referred to news reports claiming that the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack were also involved in three earlier terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
"They were involved in the December 2023 terror attack in Poonch, October 2024 attack in Ganderbal and in the October 2024 attack in Gulmarg. If this is true that these terrorists were involved in three other incidents and this (Pahalgam) makes it the fourth. ...While MPs are floating around all over the world, terrorists are floating around all over Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Also Read | ‘Extreme religious outlook’: S Jaishankar links Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir to Pahalgam terror attack
Noting that it has been one full month since the Pahalgam attack, Ramesh said there should be a clarification from the government if these terrorists were part of the group involved in three earlier incidents.
