NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday questioned the absence of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj from a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation after Sunday’s deadly Uri attack that left 18 soldiers dead.
“EAM (external affairs minister) Sushma Ji is conspicuous by her absence on foreign policy. Isn’t PM Modi singularly responsible for the completed is array ?” Congress leader Ran deep Surjewala said.
Swaraj, then in opposition, made headlines when in January 2013 she asked for “10 Pakistani heads” after two Indian soldiers were killed — one of them beheaded— in a cross-border raid in Jammu and Kashmir. The minister has been silent on Uri, even on Twitter, where she is very active and has 5.9 million followers.
It was not ameeting of the cabinet committee on security, which comprises the Prime Minister, home minister, finance minister and external affairs minister, Swaraj’s ministry officials said.
The meeting was, however, attended by home minister Rajnath Singh, finance minister Arun Jaitley, defence minister Manohar Parrikar, national security adviser Ajit Doval and army chief General Dalbir SinghSuhag among others.
As an opposition leader, Swaraj took a stringent line on Pakistan and often accused the Manmohan Singh government of going soft on terror and the neighbouring country. She had called for a tough response after the January 2013 raid. The Modi government is under similar pressure to act against Pakistan after the audacious strike on the army base in Jammu and Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}As an opposition leader, Swaraj took a stringent line on Pakistan and often accused the Manmohan Singh government of going soft on terror and the neighbouring country. She had called for a tough response after the January 2013 raid. The Modi government is under similar pressure to act against Pakistan after the audacious strike on the army base in Jammu and Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}“Mr Prime Minister are you not weak? If you are strong, the country needs proof of it,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari told media-persons here.
Swaraj will lead India’s charge at the United Nations general assembly, where she will talk about Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in keeping with India’s plans to isolate the neighbour diplomatically.
She will address the assembly on September 26.