Trump didn't take permission…: No US role in ceasefire, parliament panel told
Exposing Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary said:
"Nexus evident among terrorists, military intel agency of Pakistan"
The committee wanted to pass a formal resolution applauding Vikram Misri's performance but the Indian Foreign Service officer requested against it, the Congress MP said.
“Turkey made it's stand very clear in its support to Pakistan, and historically, we are not really surprised by what Turkey did. We do not see the relations between India and Turkey becoming normalised in the near future," Misri told the members, according to sources.
Turkey has been facing India's wrath ever since it expressed open support for Pakistan when India struck nine terrorist camps in the country and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 under Operation Sindoor.
The strikes came after a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam claimed 26 lives in April.
Tharoor told reporters after the three-hour meeting, which he said was attended by a record 24 members, that the committee unanimously expressed solidary with Misri in the face of the "unwarranted attacks" he had faced online after the two sides agreed to stop military actions.
His and his family having been at the receiving end of trolls' vitriol, Misri's role drew support from the committee for his good service for the nation.
The committee wanted to pass a formal resolution but the Indian Foreign Service officer requested against it, the Congress MP said.
"I also want to add that the committee has, in many ways, covered a lot of constructive ground and has left with satisfactory responses to various questions...
We have had a good discussion and we are parting in very spirit. We all stand with him," said Tharoor.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told a parliamentary panel that the India-Pakistan ceasefire was strictly bilateral, dismissing US involvement and denying any nuclear signalling from Islamabad.
It was a Parliament Standing Committee's (on External Affairs) "closed door deliberations"; wherein the Foreign Secretary said:
"Donald Trump did not take our permission to come to centre stage. He wanted to come to centre stage, so he came".
Earlier one member of the panel posed the query -- "Trump publicly claimed at least seven times that he facilitated the ceasefire. Why was India silent?"
Another lawmaker was equally angry at Trump and Govt's silence over the matter ad pointedly questioned why India "allowed Trump to repeatedly seize the narrative".
"There was absolutely no role played by the US in the ceasefire agreement," Misri waxed eloquent.
Furthermore, the Foreign Secretary also reiterated that the conflict between India and Pakistan remained within the bounds of conventional warfare, and there was no evidence of any nuclear posturing or signalling by Islamabad.
The Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and his Pakistani counterpart reached an understanding on halting all military actions on May 10 afternoon.
When opposition members raised concerns over the use of Chinese-origin military hardware by Pakistan, Vikram Misri reportedly said,
"It doesn’t matter what they used; what matters is that we hit their airbases hard".
Pressed about the number of Indian aircraft lost during the hostilities, the Foreign Secretary declined to comment, citing national security concerns.
Responding to questions on a statement made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Misri urged members not to misread the minister's words. He clarified that Jaishankar had said New Delhi had informed Islamabad — after the first phase of Operation Sindoor — that only terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK) had been struck.
The meeting of Parliament's Standing Committee on External Affairs, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, saw attendance from several leaders, including Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee, Congress' Rajeev Shukla and Deepender Hooda, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, and BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi and Arun Govil.
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