Congress’s Salman Khurshid replies to India-Pakistan ceasefire question: ‘The call came from…’

Congress’s Salman Khurshid replies to India-Pakistan ceasefire question: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid hailed the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, insisting that the region has seen development since the move. Khurshid’s remarks came during his visit to Indonesia as part of India’s all-party delegation’s outreach initiative.

While dismantling false propaganda by Pakistan about the ongoing tensions with India, Khurshid brought up the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s landmark move in August 2019 to permanently scrap the article that gave special status to the former state of J&K. Khurshid was addressing the Indonesian think Tanks and Academia on Thursday. He is part of the delegation team, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha.

While interacting with the Indian community in Indonesia's Jakarta, Khurshid said that all-party MP delegations are not supporting each other's parties, but a "simple idea called India."

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"India is waiting to be great. Nobody can distract us or interfere with that passage of ours. That is why it is important for us to show our strength. If there is any sense in Pakistan, they will understand our only demand: give up terrorism," the Congress leader said.

"Some of my colleagues are not from the ruling party. The ruling party could have come alone to bring this message, but they came with us to give India's message... However, sadly, this is not what we hear from India. Somebody is saying that he is supporting the BJP or the Congress, but I am proud that we are here together because we are not supporting, we are supporting one simple idea called India," he added.

“… Because one of you asked, why did we stop? It's complete hogwash for anyone to say that we called them (Pakistan) first. Why would we call them first? Who was at the receiving end by the time the calls were made? It is more than clear to everybody that the call came from the DGMO of Pakistan to the DGMO of India. And we stopped when they said 'Let's stop'... And we then didn't send any further attacks on them. But the shelling across the border and the LoC continued for at least three or four hours. There were violations of the ceasefire once again, making it very clear that in Pakistan, nobody seems to be in control. The civilian government doesn't seem to be in control. There are factions within the army, each vying with each other to become powerful. Nevertheless, we showed restraint and patience,” Khurshid said.

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As part of its diplomatic strategy post-Operation Sindoor, the Modi government has sent these delegations abroad to communicate India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism and highlight Pakistan’s complicity in cross-border terror activities.

Seven all-party delegations are currently engaged in diplomatic outreach efforts across the countries assigned to them.

Their mission is to inform global partners about India’s firm response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader stance against cross-border terrorism.

The delegations are interacting with leaders and officials in nations including France, the UK, Germany, the EU, Italy, and Denmark.

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