Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump’s recent social media post offering to mediate between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue, calling for clarity from the Indian government on the matter.
“Many questions will be raised on this tweet as well... So what happened (regarding India-Pakistan understanding), how and why, no information has been given to us regarding this... So we will not issue any criticism today. We only want a special parliament session and an all-party meeting to be called. I want to appeal to all political parties not to attend the meeting until the government assures them that the Prime Minister will be present at the meeting as well... I am confident that if Dr Manmohan Singh had been the Prime Minister today, he would be present in the all-party meeting, and a special session would have been called too,” Sibal told reporters on Sunday.
Sibal also urged the Union Government to convene an all-party meeting and a special session of parliament to address the recent developments, including Trump’s mediation proposal.
Earlier, Congress MP Manish Tewari took to social media platform X to challenge Trump’s understanding of the Kashmir issue, rejecting his characterisation of the conflict as a “biblical 1000-year-old” one.
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“Someone in the US establishment needs to seriously educate their President @POTUS @realDonaldTrump that Kashmir is not a biblical 1000-year-old conflict. It started on October 22, 1947 – 78 years ago when Pakistan invaded the Independent State of Jammu & Kashmir that subsequently was ceded to India in 'FULL' by Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947 that includes areas illegally occupied by Pakistan till now. How difficult is it to grasp this simple fact?” Tewari said.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh also weighed in, demanding an all-party meeting under the Prime Minister’s chairmanship to discuss several pressing issues, including Operation Sindoor and the recent cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“The Indian National Congress once again demands that an all-party meeting be called under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister and a special session of Parliament be held on the issue of Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor and the cessation of hostilities, announced first in Washington DC and subsequently by the Governments of India and Pakistan, so that all these issues can be discussed comprehensively,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh further questioned the mention of a “neutral forum” for dialogue between India and Pakistan by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, asking if the government had compromised on the longstanding Shimla Agreement.
“The Indian National Congress believes that the mention of a ‘neutral forum’ for dialogue between India and Pakistan by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raises several questions – have we abandoned the Shimla Agreement? Have we opened the door for third party mediation? The Indian National Congress would like to ask whether diplomatic channels are being reopened between India and Pakistan? What commitments have we sought from Pakistan and what have we received?” Ramesh questioned.
India has repeatedly rejected third-party intervention on the Kashmir issue, maintaining that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Trump, who had pulled the US out of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, has threatened to take military action if no new deal is reached, and on Sunday, he claimed that millions of lives could have been lost if the recent ceasefire had not been brokered.
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