Kiren Rijiju flays Cong for questioning India's global outreach success after Pahalgam, cites IANS interview

New Delhi, Aug 3 Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday shared excerpts of Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar’s interview with IANS to take potshots at the grand old party over its ‘irresponsible’ posturing on matters of national security.

Pahalgam terror attack followed by Operation Sindoor and India’s extensive diplomatic outreach to more than 33 nations has found the government and Opposition at loggerheads, with former calling India’s firm response to Pakistan a new normal while the latter pointing fingers at the Centre not just over security lapse but also outreach programme, claiming that no nation rallied behind India in denouncing Pakistan.

Sharing a portion of the IANS Interview, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs quipped, “Inside as well as outside the Parliament”, referring to the Congress party’s refusal to acknowledge positive outcomes of India’s diplomatic offensive against Pakistan.

Manishankar Aiyar, in a recent interaction with IANS, said that India was not able to present its case globally, and evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in Pahalgam attacks, and no country was willing to hold it accountable for the ghastly attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

“We are chest-thumping, claiming a Pakistani hand behind the Pahalgam attack. Nobody is willing to buy our claims. We are not able to present any evidence. We are not able to nail any Pakistani agency which was behind this barbaric attack. The world is not accepting what India is saying,” Aiyar said.

"In the UN Security Council meeting, the final statement condemned the terrorism, but they did not mention who was behind it -- Pakistan's name was not mentioned. No one to date has said that Pakistan is responsible," he further added.

The government has maintained that the multi-party delegation, in the wake of Operation Sindoor, firmly presented the country's war on terror approach on the world stage and it also drew positive support from the global community, with the biggest achievement being the banning of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) proxy - The Resistance Front (TRF) by the United States.

TRF, a Pakistan-based terror outfit, had initially taken credit for the Pahalgam attacks on April 22 but then retracted its claim, apparently under some pressure from the Pakistani establishment.

Aiyar, who served as Union minister in former Congress-led governments, also advocated for talks with Pakistan while questioning the ‘gaps’ in the Centre’s approach to hold dialogue with the neighbouring nations.

“When India and Pakistan were engaged in a military conflict following Operation Sindoor, the Chinese Army was backing the Pakistani Air Force. If dialogue is possible with Beijing, then why not with Islamabad?" he asked.

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