EAM Jaishankar Clears Congress Doubts Over Op Sindoor, Says US was Told Terror and Talks Would Not Go Together

New Delhi: At a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament on External Affairs on Monday, the minister, S Jaishanka,r cleared the air over several issues raised by the Congress members over the Centre allegedly alerting Pakistan before Op Sindoor, the US-brokered ceasefire and suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The external affairs minister told the panel that Pakistan was informed by the DGMO about Indian strikes on terror camps in their territory only after they were executed, sources said.

Jaishankar appealed for national unity over the issues and termed as dishonest the misrepresentation of his statement.

He cleared the air about alleged US "interference", saying the decision to halt the military operation was taken bilaterally after a request from the Pakistan side.

The external affairs minister further clarified that the US was urging India to speak with Pakistan, and it was told that terror and talks would not go together, he said.

Apart from the Congress, a group of MPs from the Samajwadi Party, DMK, and others attended the meeting.

The Congress has been targeting the Centre over Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 to avenge the deadly attack on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, where 26 innocent tourists were killed by four Pakistan-backed terrorists.

The Congress attack on Jaishankar was primarily over his statements that Pakistan was alerted before launching military strikes on terrorist camps. The Congress also questioned why Op Sindoor was halted due to the intervention of US President Donald Trump, which was third-party mediation in a bilateral matter.

The LoP Rahul Gandhi had attacked the external affairs minister, citing a video clip in which Jaishankar was heard saying the government had told Pakistan about the attack at the start of the military operations.

Congress MPs further sought a clarification on the repeated claims of US President Trump that he played a role in the ceasefire between India and Pakistan to prevent an escalation in the conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries.

To this, the External Affairs minister responded that the US had been told that terror and talks would not go together and that the ceasefire happened after the two DGMOs spoke to each other, the insiders said.

The Congress members also wanted to know if the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty by India in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack will continue. The minister clarified the pact was in abeyance and said the lawmakers would be briefed as and when the next moves were made over the issue, the insiders said.

The minister also informed the delegation that the various all-party delegations that have been sent abroad to expose Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and reiterate India’s strong message of zero-tolerance for terrorism in all its forms and manifestations were having effective conversations.

On the issue of India getting isolated after Op Sindoor, the delegation was told that most countries had backed the country’s right to defend itself from terrorism and that only three countries had questioned the government's stand.

The sources said the minister sought the cooperation of all MPs in "exposing" Pakistan across the world. He said that is why the government has sent multi-party delegations of MPs to various countries to put across India's united message against terrorism to the world.

Jaishankar shared pictures of chairing the Consultative Committee Meeting of MEA on X.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Mistry gave a presentation on Operation Sindoor to the MPs at the meeting.

The sources said the Congress members asked the government why India was "hyphenated" with Pakistan by the US and also raised the issue of IMF aid to Pakistan and India's abstention at the meeting.

They said the Congress also raised concerns over Pakistan's growing relationship with China.