The Congress on Thursday criticized the Centre’s decision to send international delegations under Operation Sindoor, calling it a “meaningless optical exercise” and branding it as one of the government’s “weapons of mass distraction.”
Speaking to PTI, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene a special session of Parliament to clarify U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims about brokering a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
“The Prime Minister’s persistent refusal to call a parliamentary session while dispatching 50 MPs to various countries is purely for domestic optics and serves no real purpose,” Ramesh said.
“India and Pakistan may both possess weapons of mass destruction, but India uniquely has a different kind of WMD—’weapon of mass distraction’. These delegations are a prime example,” he added.
India launched precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan. These strikes were in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. The escalation triggered intense cross-border hostilities involving missiles, drones, fighter jets, and artillery, culminating in an unofficial ceasefire on May 10 after mutual understanding was reached.
U.S. President Trump later claimed credit for mediating the truce. However, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar clarified that the ceasefire resulted from direct talks between New Delhi and Islamabad, not U.S. mediation.
Ramesh also pointed to reports suggesting that the militants behind the Pahalgam attack had been involved in three earlier attacks—in Poonch (December 2023), Ganderbal (October 2024), and Gulmarg (October 2024).
“If these reports are true, the same group carried out four major attacks. While our MPs tour foreign countries, terrorists seem to roam freely within Jammu and Kashmir,” he remarked.
