BJP, Opp hail ceasefire; Opp questions US role, calls for all-party meet

Indian Express

10-05-2025

The BJP and the Opposition welcomed the ceasefire announced between India and Pakistan, with the ruling party hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the armed forces, and the Congress calling for an all-party meeting and a special session of Parliament.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav hailed the Prime Minister for 'inflicting punishment on terrorists and their sponsors in a short span of time' and asserted that it was a win for India. Yadav said every Indian is filled with pride as the 'resolute response' to the Pahalgam terror attack which had brought the 'enemies to their knees'.
The Congress and other Opposition parties had pledged unequivocal support to the Government in whatever action it may take against perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack and their handlers. There was, however, a sense of unease among Opposition parties Sunday over the role played by the US, especially after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that India and Pakistan have agreed to 'start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.'
'Like in 2019, after the Pulwama-Balakot dynamic, it was a US intervention that had calmed things down. This is documented both in terms of Trump's statement from Hanoi and the subsequent accounts written by Mike Pompeo and John Bolton who were then Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Again this time it is explicit US intervention which is trying to calm the region down,' senior Congress leader and former union minister Manish Tewari told The Indian Express.
'What is most interesting in the statement issued by Secretary of State Rubio is that the ceasefire is hyphenated with the assertion that both the countries will talk on a broad set of issues at a neutral site. This clearly constitutes third party mediation and it demonstrates that the bilateralism which was intrinsic to the Simla agreement of 1972 now seems to be a template of the past,' Tewari said.
Congress communication department head Jairam Ramesh said that 'in view of the unprecedented announcements from Washington DC, there is now a need, more than ever before, for the PM to chair an all-party meeting'. 'A special session of Parliament to discuss the events of the last eighteen days, beginning with the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks and the way forward, and to demonstrate a collective resolve' should be held,' he said.
'Peace is essential. We need to have more details. But I am very glad. India never wanted a long-term war. What India wanted was indeed to teach the terrorists a lesson. I believe that lesson has been taught. The other details are not yet clear,' Lok Sabha MP and CWC member Shashi Tharoor said.
Some Congress leaders posted tweets remembering Indira Gandhi in the context of the 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh. 'Indiraji, today the entire country is remembering you,' former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot posted on X, along with a photo of the former prime minister with soldiers. In this context, Ramesh tweeted a letter that Indira Gandhi had written to President Nixon on December 12, 1971. 'Four days later Pakistan surrendered. She ensured that there was no 'neutral site' which has now been agreed to,' he said.
The RJD's Tejashwi Yadav asked the Prime Minister to convene a special session of Parliament and 'give date-wise and point-wise information from the terrorist incident of Pahalgam to the ceasefire declaration so that all Indians through Parliament can express their gratitude to the valour and courage of the Indian armed forces in one voice and place their views on various issues'.
Echoing the demand, his party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj K Jha said it was 'a little unsettling to hear that the ceasefire decision was taken by Donald Trump…that he held discussions through the night'.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said there can be no permanent peace as long as Pakistan uses its territory for terrorism against India. 'Ceasefire or no ceasefire we must pursue the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack. I have always stood by the Government and the armed forces against external aggression. This will continue…. I hope this ceasefire gives respite to the people living in border areas. I also hope that Indians and Indian political parties learn from the past two weeks: India is strong when it is united; our enemies benefit when Indians fight Indians,' he said.
Owaisi, however, also raised questions, saying that Prime Minister Modi should have announced the ceasefire 'rather than the President of a foreign country'. 'We have always been opposed to third-party intervention since Simla (1972). Why have we now accepted it? I hope the Kashmir issue will not be internationalised, as it is our internal matter. Why are we agreeing to talk on neutral territory? What will be the agenda of these talks? Does the US guarantee that Pakistan will not use its territory for terrorism? Have we achieved our aim of deterring Pakistan from carrying out future terror attacks? Was our goal to get a Trump-brokered ceasefire or was it to bring Pakistan to such a position that it would not even dream of another terror attack?' he said.
The CPI(M) said Pakistan has to ensure an end to terrorist activity from within its borders. 'We earnestly hope that the two countries build on this and ensure that the people do not have to suffer from the evil of terrorism,' the CPM politburo said.
NDA ally JD(U), meanwhile, welcomed the ceasefire with spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad saying India had taught Pakistan a lesson that it would never be able to forget.