New Delhi: The Congress has decided to participate in multi-party delegations of members of parliament (MPs) the Centre is planning to send to various world capitals to present India’s position on the recent military conflict with Pakistan. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has conveyed the decision to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who had reached out to the principal opposition party with the proposal.
“The Indian National Congress always takes a position in the supreme national interest and never politicises national security issues like the BJP does. Hence, the Indian National Congress will definitely be a part of these delegations,” Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
The Centre’s proposal is reportedly part of a diplomatic outreach aimed at building global support for India’s stance as a victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. However, the government has yet to make an official announcement of the outreach.
Ramesh said that while Kharge, in consultation with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, will announce the party’s representatives for the delegations in due course, the Centre has still not met its demands to convene an all-party meeting and a special session of the Parliament on the recent developments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend the all-party meeting held after the 22 April Pahalgam attack, nor the one following Operation Sindoor on 7 May. The Congress has now indicated that it may boycott any future meetings if the Prime Minister continues to abstain.
On 10 May, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, wrote to the Prime Minister, placing the “unanimous request of the Opposition” to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the “Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor and today’s ceasefire, first announced by US President Trump”.
The Congress has maintained the announcement from Washington amounted to the “internationalisation” of India’s dispute with Pakistan. It has said that the 1972 Simla agreement precludes any third party mediation in disputes between the two neighbours.
“The Prime Minister has refused to chair two all-party meetings on the Pahalgam terror attacks and Operation Sindoor. The Prime Minister has not agreed to call a special session of Parliament that the Indian National Congress has been demanding to demonstrate a collective will and reiterate the resolution passed unanimously by Parliament on Feb 22, 1994,” Ramesh wrote on X.
“The Prime Minister and his party have been defaming the Indian National Congress continuously even as it has called for unity and solidarity. Now suddenly the PM has decided to send multi-party delegations abroad to explain India’s stand on terrorism from Pakistan…” he added.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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