Congress questions government on US mediation in Kashmir ceasefire

The Congress on Sunday demanded answers from the government on whether it has accepted third party mediation on Kashmir after the US made announcements on behalf of India and Pakistan, and slammed attempt to “internationalise” the issue

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday demanded answers from the government on whether it has accepted third party mediation on Kashmir after the US made announcements on behalf of India and Pakistan, and slammed attempt to “internationalise” the issue.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot said the “ceasefire” statement was a surprise to all as this was the first time a third country had made announcements on behalf of the India and Pakistan and questioned the US’ bid to “hyphenate” the two countries.

He said the government must accept the opposition’s demand for another all-party meeting chaired by the prime minister and a special session of Parliament to discuss these issues in the current circumstances.

Noting that events have changed swiftly in the last 24 hours, he said, “We were all surprised after the announcement of ceasefire was made by the US President through social media.”

“An attempt was made to internationalise the issues between India and Pakistan. This is for the first time this has happened,” he said, asserting that the government must clarify while taking the nation and all parties into confidence.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Saturday announced that India and Pakistan had reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea with immediate effect.

“On what conditions the ceasefire has been declared and what is the guarantee that such things would not be repeated, as there is no credibility left after yesterday’s events (violations). How can we believe them and what is the guarantee that such developments will not happen again,” Pilot asked.

The Congress leader said one must also pay heed to what US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media posts, where he made statements on Kashmir, on which the government should spell out its side.

“Kashmir is a bilateral issue and the attempt to internationalise it, I feel, is not proper.

In 1994, the Congress leader said, Parliament had passed a unanimous resolution to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“It is time to repeat it,” he said, adding that a message that the entire country is united should go across the entire world.

“A special session be convened and the 1994 resolution be adopted again and it may be made clear that no third party involvement will be accepted.

“It should be stated clearly that it is a bilateral issue and no country, including America, should have a space to intervene in a bilateral issue,” Pilot said, adding that India’s stated foreign policy was very clear where there was no scope for mediation.

Pilot said that the Government of India received unprecedented support from all parties and people in the wake of the Pahalgam attack.

“I appeal that the government should convene an all-party meeting immediately. We are all proud of what our soldiers and our armed forces action what they have done to teach Pakistan a lesson. We are proud of the actions taken by our armed forces,” he said.

Several questions have arisen after the US announcements made on social media, he said and noted that the US had said two days ago “it is none of our business” but then the US Secretary of State, President and Vice President declared a “ceasefire” and later India and Pakistan also made an announcement of ending military action.

“Has the government accepted this mediation. Under what conditions has the government accepted? This raises questions,” he said while referring to Kashmir’s mention in the US statement and the US Secretary of State saying that talks will happen at a ‘neutral site’.

“The American president wrongly said that they have been fighting for thousands of years, forgetting that the two were one country a few years ago.

“This is an attempt again to hyphenate India and Pakistan and an IMF bailout like this. If a ceasefire is declared from Washington like this, it raises several questions,” Pilot said.

He also said that one must take note of the remarks made by former chiefs of the Indian Army.

Pilot said the violations after the ceasefire declaration have also raised several questions and doubts on their credibility regarding whether there would be a repeat of such attacks from across the border.

“I feel we should convene an all-party meeting and… the prime minister should attend that meeting.. the prime minister should take the entire nation and all political parties into confidence on the developments,” Pilot said.

Recalling that during the 1971 war, America had said that they were deploying their 7th fleet in the Bay of Bengal, he said the then government led by Indira Gandhi went ahead and did what was in the supreme national interest. “We remember that government when national interest was supreme.”