New Delhi: Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday said the government at its highest levels should rebut President Donald Trump’s claims on the India-Pakistan “ceasefire” and asserted the US’ attempts at hyphenating the two countries and internationalising Kashmir is not good for India’s global standing.
In an interview with PTI, he said Trump’s claims of brokering a “ceasefire” based on some threats and allurement of trade deals is “absolutely shocking”.
Pilot hit out at the BJP, which is taking out Tiranga Yatras, saying the tricolor does not belong to any party but to the country. The ruling party must make its stand clear on the serious questions that have arisen from the US president’s claims, he said.
“For me, it is unacceptable for a country like India to be told that ‘we will stop trade and that is why you must stop taking military action’ because what happened in Pahalgam was an attack on India. It was about time that the Indian State, the Indian government and the Indian military give a befitting reply to people who sponsor terrorism — Pakistan.”
The Congress general secretary said, “It came as a great surprise to all of us that for the first time ever cessation of military action or a ceasefire was announced by another head of state and no less than the US president.”
He said traditionally there have been back-channelling and diplomacy at all times globally that worked at some point of time or the other. But this sort of staking a claim to “brokering a ceasefire” based on some threats and allurement of trade deals is absolutely shocking, Pilot said.
“Another worrying aspect that I saw was that the US President, the US Vice President and the Secretary of State not once mentioned the word terrorism.
“They have not once said ‘we denounce terrorism and Pakistan must stop funding and nurturing terror outfits on their soil’. On the contrary, they have started to drag the Kashmir issue for no reason,” Pilot told PTI.
Asserting that the Pahalgam attack was an act of terror in which 26 innocents were shot down in cold blood, the Congress leader said the fact that the US is pushing Kashmir on the discussion table is “totally unacceptable”.
On the US’ attempts at hyphenating India and Pakistan, Pilot said the government at the highest levels must “counter these so-called claims”.
“Pakistan is almost a failed state, they have a former prime minister in jail, they have the ISI, the deep state and the army controlling most of the decisions that Pakistan takes. There is a weak government there which has no credibility,” he said.
“I think this hyphenating (India and Pakistan) we had left behind a long ago and I think these attempts to put India and Pakistan on the same platform are not a positive sign and certainly.”
Pilot said the government must come out and clarify its stand on this attempt to internationalise the Kashmir issue and hyphenate India and Pakistan as “it is not good for our foreign policy or for our global standing”.
The leader said his party has demanded answers from the government and requested for a special session of Parliament so that all these things can be put on record.
“There is no greater platform than the Indian Parliament to unanimously speak out against terrorism, Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, and reiterate that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India. All this talk of having a neutral site for discussing Kashmir and all our decisions pre-announced by third parties is also not correct,” Pilot said.
“I don’t think a government spokesperson will suffice, the highest levels of government must rebut these claims. All I have seen is that the PM addressed the nation and though what he said was all true, not once did he counter the US president,” he said.
When there was a war with China in 1962 and Jawaharlal Nehru was the prime minister, a special session was called and many questions were asked, Pilot said.
“Who is demanding that questions related to India’s security be asked, but a session of Parliament should be held to send a message,” he said.
The prime minister did not state that the US president is not speaking the truth and did not clarify on what conditions the “ceasefire” was agreed upon, Pilot said.
“We must remember India’s attempt was not to escalate, it was not to damage any civilian assets, it was simply about targeting the terror infrastructure nurtured by Pakistan for long and they had to be demolished.
“Beyond that, what has happened is that the ceasefire announcements, the discussion of Kashmir, equating India and Pakistan and how China has come out openly in support of Pakistan, all these are issues of great concern,” he said.
The entire opposition stood with the government and even today it is doing so, but the way the US is declaring a “ceasefire”, the way China is brazenly supporting Pakistan, and no country except India opposed the IMF loan, all these are serious issues, Pilot said.
On the Congress’ planned ‘Jai Hind Sabhas’, Pilot said, “We appreciate the valour shown by our soldiers and the befitting reply that they have given to Pakistan. But we want answers on the serious questions that have arisen regarding Kashmir, mediation and American interference.”
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
Trump had announced that India and Pakistan agreed to a “full and immediate ceasefire” and claimed that it happened after a long night of talks “mediated by the United States”.
