Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Tuesday briefed a group of Members of Parliament (MPs) from various political parties at the Parliament complex, ahead of their diplomatic outreach to 35 countries following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
The briefing, held in the Parliament premises, was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs to prepare the delegations on how to effectively present India’s stance before the international community. The MPs will be visiting different countries to explain India’s position on the twin issues and highlight concerns about Pakistan’s role in sheltering terrorist groups.
According to sources, Misri informed the parliamentarians that The Resistance Front (TRF) had initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, but later retracted its statement under pressure from Pakistan. “Not only that, when the matter was brought up internationally, Pakistan advocated for the removal of the terror group’s name from the resolution,” the sources said.
Clarifying the origins of US President Donald Trump’s remarks on the issue, Misri reportedly stated that it was Pakistan — and not India — that had engaged with the United States regarding the matter.
MPs Shrikant Shinde And Salman Khurshid on India’s Diplomatic Outreach
After the briefing, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde told news agency ANI, “Tomorrow, our group will leave for UAE and West Africa. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, all 7 delegations are leaving for different countries to put forward the stand of our country. MEA did a country-wise briefing for all the groups today and gave anecdotes of previous terrorist attacks on India. This briefing will prove to be useful for our visits… We will sensitise other countries on what India has been facing at the hands of Pakistan and terror over the years… MEA will provide dossiers to every group.”
On US claims of mediation, Congress leader Salman Khurshid told the media, “There was no interference by anyone (in understanding between India and Pakistan); there was no mediation. But when such things happen in the world, different people try to send a message. But whatever has happened has happened only between the two nations. When the matter escalated, it was between our two nations. When it ended, it ended between the two nations. It was initiated by the Pakistan DGMO, they said that we should end this. We said that it should be done if they are ready.”
He further stated, “Politics within the country is our right, our duty; it is different. But outside the country, what we have to say is different.”
BJP leader SS Ahluwalia highlighted Pakistan’s attempts at lying about the events that unfolded leading to the ceasefire. He told ANI, “Different things are being spread, especially by the media in Pakistan – what happened on 7th May, what happened on 22nd April, and what happened between 7th and 11th May. They are spreading lies across the world… It is the responsibility of a nation and representatives of all parties to go to other nations and meet legislators/business communities/intellectual communities there and tell them what actually happened there. India has always had the stance that this fight is not against common citizens. Terrorists came, executed their terrorist activities, and our fight is against them…”
Among the MPs present at the meeting were Congress leader Salman Khurshid, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, BJP MPs Bansuri Swaraj, Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Rajiv Rai, and SS Ahluwalia, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi and Sambit Patra, as well as DMK’s Kanimozhi and JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha.
As per inputs from PTI, Misri briefed three of the seven all-party delegations ahead of their overseas visits. These delegations, led respectively by JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde, and DMK’s Kanimozhi, were given details of their agenda and the key talking points.
TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, who was inducted at the last moment following his party’s objection to the government’s earlier decision to select MP Yusuf Pathan without consultation, also attended the meeting. Banerjee is part of the delegation headed by Sanjay Jha that will travel to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
