K C Venugopal critiques the Indian government's silence on US mediation claims

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal on Wednesday, questioning the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged silence on US claims about mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, said their silence gives the impression that the country's foreign policy is no longer sovereign, it is being dictated from Washington.

Speaking at the Congress' 'Jai Hind Sabha' here, he claimed that External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar did not give a satisfactory reply to questions in this regard at a recent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs of which he is a member.

"Ceasefire happened well and good. We don't want any war. We are not warmongers. The Congress party is for peace every time. Why did the government abruptly halt its retaliatory operation against Pakistan without any clear explanation to the nation? Why did this U-turn happen suddenly? What were the terms and conditions of this ceasefire?" Venugopal asked.

Addressing the gathering, he urged the government to clarify. "Why is the government completely silent on US President Donald Trump's shocking claim that he pressured India into a ceasefire using trade? Is India's foreign policy now being dictated by foreign powers? We expected a reaction from the Indian Prime Minister or Foreign Minister. The silence gives the impression that foreign policy is no longer sovereign; it is being dictated from Washington, not from Delhi." "On Monday, when the Consultative Committee on External Affairs met, we asked several questions to the minister. I don't want to give details of the questions on this public platform, but we did not get a satisfactory reply from the minister. The country needs satisfactory answers," he added.

Citing social media posts by the US President and Secretary of States claiming credit for the ceasefire and US Vice President equating Indian and Pakistani PMs, and US' claims about willingness to mediate on Kashmir issue, Venugopal said India has never allowed third party intervention in the Kashmir issue.

"Whether it (claims) is true, the government should clarify to the nation. What is the intention of the US repeatedly saying this? The country needs answers," he added.

Pointing out that the opposition earlier asked for a parliament session, not for any political purpose, but to show the world that the Indian parliament is united, India is united, and the Indian parliament is strongly with the government of India and the armed forces, the Congress leader said, but unfortunately the parliament wasn't called. "Still we are expecting that parliament will be called." The Congress did not indulge in any partisan politics, like done by other political parties after the Mumbai terror attack. But there are some questions in the public domain which need to be clarified by the Government of India, he said.

"Why did the intelligence failure happen during the Pahalgam incident? Yesterday we got shocking information that NIA arrested a CRPF personnel from Pahalgam, who allegedly leaked the information to the Pakistani side," he said.

Questioning as to why the intelligence failure happened and whether the government is examining it and will fix a responsibility, Venugopal further said the 26 families deserve justice, and these questions need to be answered.

"The terrorists who killed 26 people have not been caught so far. Where are the terrorists? Whether the government has any idea?" he asked.

Calling the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 tourists were killed as "heinous", the AICC general secretary said, two times all party meetings were called after the incident on our demand, and both times Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi wholeheartedly supported any action by the government to give a befitting reply to the terror activities of Pakistan.

The Congress is proud of the armed forces for conducting Operation Sindoor, as they have given a befitting reply to Pakistan. "We salute the armed forces. Our air force has done a wonderful job. Whole country was united and we (Congress) supported the government very much at that time, because this is a national issue," he said.