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No US role in India-Pakistan understanding: Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri
The May 10 understanding between India and Pakistan to stop all firing and military action on land and in the air and sea was reached bilaterally and there was no US intervention, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs on Monday, sources said.
Misri also told the panel that the military conflict between India and Pakistan, which lasted from the early hours of May 7 till 5pm on May 10, was always in the conventional domain, and there was no nuclear signalling by the neighbouring country, according to sources present at the briefing.
Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor-led 31-member parliamentary committee also unanimously condemned the social media trolling that Misri and his family members were subjected to following the stoppage of military action. MPs present at the meeting praised the foreign secretary's professional conduct.
To questions whether Pakistan used Chinese platforms in the conflict, the foreign secretary said that it did not matter as the Indian response was precise and effective, with the result that Pakistani air bases were hammered. To another question by an Opposition MP about US President Donald Trump's social media posts claiming that he mediated the understanding between India and Pakistan, Misri remarked that the US President did not take his permission to do so. On Turkiye's support to Pakistan, he said that Ankara has traditionally not been a supporter of India.
On queries about the Trump administration's claims on mediating on the Kashmir issue, Misri said no other country has "any locus standi" to comment on the matter. To another question about Pakistan managing to secure the next tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package, he said India opposed it but different countries are guided by their own interests.
Over the past two days, Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has criticised External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, referring to one of his statements to the media and alleging that India had forewarned Pakistan about its intent to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan, which led to India losing its fighter jets. However, at the meeting of the parliamentary committee, Misri rejected such speculation, stating that India did not inform Pakistan before the start of Operation Sindoor. Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) have also termed Gandhi's statement as 'utter misrepresentation of facts'.
Gandhi had cited a comment by External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar to claim that Pakistan was informed about Operation Sindoor, and asked how many planes India lost due to this. The EAM is being quoted in the wrong context, Misri said, adding that a contact was made with Pakistan at the DGMO (director general of military operations) level only after the strikes on terror sites on May 7.
Other Opposition MPs asked whether India's agencies know about the whereabouts of the terrorists involved in the April 22 Pahalgam attack in which they killed 26 people. They also wanted to know about the efforts being made to nab the terrorists. Members further asked about the steps India has taken to isolate Pakistan on the global stage, such as putting Pakistan back on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). There were questions on whether India, a victim of terror, was now re-hyphenated with Pakistan, which is a perpetrator of terror.
Apart from Tharoor, Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress' Rajeev Shukla and Deepender Hooda, and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) Aparajita Sarangi and Arun Govil attended the meeting, among others. Some of the members of the panel, such as Tharoor, Owaisi and Sarangi, are also part of the seven delegations that India has planned to dispatch to 32 countries and the European Union as part of its diplomatic outreach.
In a related development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said in Kolkata that her party, the Trinamool Congress, is not boycotting the Centre's multi-party diplomatic mission and would send its representatives once a formal request is received from the Centre. Banerjee said the Centre should not decide the party's nominee to the delegations. Her statement came after a controversy broke out that Trinamool MP Yusuf Pathan was forced to opt out of the multi-party diplomatic delegation. BJP leader Amit Malviya termed the Trinamool's decision as unfortunate.
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