NEW DELHI: In a strong response to the special discussion in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday on Operation Sindoor, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar delivered strong messages on terrorism, Pakistan, and national security, vowing decisive action in response to the Pahalgam terror attack and rejecting Opposition allegations. Both ministers targeted the Congress for its handling of past cross-border threats, with Shah promising to reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Jaishankar asserting that India will strike back at every act of terror under the “new normal.”
The Home Minister gave details about Operation Mahadev, in which the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack were killed.
“After the Pahalgam terror attack, I had received a lot of calls from the relatives of the people who were killed. They requested me to kill these terrorists by firing bullet to their heads. Our officials killed them by shooting on their heads,” said the Home Minister in his reply to the debate in Rajya Sabha.
“The identity of three terrorists killed in Op Mahadev established Lashkar-e-Taiba’s hand in Pahalgam attack,” added Shah. He stated that such barbaric crime never happened where religion was asked before killing people in front of women and children.
The government had said the bullet casings recovered from the spot had a 99 percent match with the casings found in Pahalgam.
“I want to give a strong message that Kashmir will be free of terrorism,” Shah told the Upper House in his reply on Wednesday evening.
“I also met family members of Pahalgam terror attack... they all were wailing at the loss of their loved ones... Terrorists had killed their family members after asking their religion,” he said.
The Home Minister’s speech was preceded by protests by the Congress and Opposition parties who questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not present in the House and replying to the discussion. When the Chair refused to entertain their demand, they staged a walkout, skipping the minister’s response.
Continuing his speech, Shah said Congress leader P Chidambaram had demanded his resignation and proof that the terrorists were from Pakistan. Shah stated that Chidambaram even challenged the justification of Operation Sindoor.
“Priority of Congress is not national security, but politics; it indulges in politics of vote bank, appeasement,” the Home Minister said.
He said that Chidambaram exposed the mentality of Congress to the whole world that for vote bank they would support Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba and terrorists.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar categorically said there was no third-party intervention in bringing about a ceasefire with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, asserting that the halting of the military action was also not linked to trade as claimed by US President Donald Trump.
Intervening in the special discussion on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha, Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President did not have any phone calls between April 22, when the Pahalgam terror attack took place, and June 16.
Jaishankar attacked the Congress for not responding to terror attacks perpetrated by Pakistan in the past and accused it of “self-hyphenating” India with Pakistan on the issue of terror.
He, however, said the Modi government is now setting things right and will give Pakistan a befitting and appropriate response to every attack done by it, citing the surgical and Balakot strikes and now Operation Sindoor.
The minister said under the new normal, India will hit whenever Pakistan attacks it and will not buckle under any nuclear threat. He also blamed the previous Congress governments for China coming closer to Pakistan since the 1960s when Islamabad handed over parts of PoK to Beijing.
He also dubbed Rahul Gandhi as “China-guru” in a veiled attack at him for giving his expertise on China. Responding to various charges by the Opposition, Jaishankar during his hour-long speech said in the last decade, there has been a huge change in India’s response to terrorism and was demonstrated through Operation Sindoor today.
He also chided certain opposition party leaders for mocking India’s military action against Pakistan, saying if they have any doubts, they should watch videos of funerals of terrorists in Pakistan and destruction of airfields there.
The minister said Operation Sindoor was a well-considered and thoughtful response to the barbaric Pahalgam terror attack and it has now become the basis of a new policy. He emphasised India will keep responding to each terror attack in the same way.
Noting that the Pahalgam terror attack was absolutely unacceptable, he said a red line was crossed by Pakistan, and there had to be accountability and justice.
“Blood and water will not flow together,” he said, providing reasons for India’s decision to suspend the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan.
Jaishankar said the Modi government has corrected the wrongs of Nehru’s policies by suspending the Treaty. The Treaty signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not to buy peace, but for appeasement, he added.
He said terrorism is now on the global agenda only because of the efforts of the Modi government.