Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
Interacting with the Indian diaspora in Kuala Lumpur, Banerjee said, "We have been in talks with them (Pakistan) for decades, despite changes in various paradigms and governments. But one thing remains constant, the conflict with Pakistan."
JD-U MP Sanjay Kumar Jha heads a diplomatic mission to Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan and Singapore, to seek international cooperation after the Pahalgam attack while highlighting Pakistan's role in cross-border terrorism.
The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the government regarding the Pahalgam terror attack, questioning intelligence failures and demanding accountability.
'...by saying since you have come say everything against your party.'
'The Congress submitted four names to the government as the people who should accompany the delegation.' 'I don't know what happened to those names.' 'When I was approached, I told them to speak to my party.' 'I have no further involvement with this delegation.'
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
Reddy alleged that contracts worth thousands of crores were awarded to people close to Modi, who then purchased Rafale aircraft.
In the wake of the recent hostilities, both sides have moved from weapons to words, with India dispatching several delegations to visit more than 30 capitals across the world. A similar effort by Pakistan is set to start on Jun 2.
Top military officials from India and Pakistan highlighted their views at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, billed as Asia's premier defence forum, amid heightened tensions between the two sides following last month's military confrontation.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
India succeeded in busting the Pakistani narrative on Operation Sindoor, particularly among the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member nations, where Islamabad sought succour after carrying out terror activities across the border, Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was proud of the manner in which the multi-party delegations presented India's views in various countries on the need to eradicate the menace of terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
Heavy Pakistani shelling in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir left nine people dead and 28 injured. The shelling, described by residents and officials as "barbaric and cowardly", started around 2 am, damaging dozens of residential houses, shops, vehicles, and heritage sites. The incident comes after India launched "Operation Sindoor" in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India condemned the act, calling it a cowardly attack on civilians, and reaffirmed that civilian safety remains its top priority.
The Jammu and Kashmir assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Monday expressing shock and anguish over the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and resolved to fight resolutely to defeat the nefarious designs to disturb communal harmony and hinder progress.
The opposition party's attack came after Shashi Tharoor, not part of the four leaders nominated by the Congress, was named as the head of a delegation to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
Fifty-nine members of delegations visiting 33 world capitals, reaching millions of people, giving one message, in one language, in one voice -- is an unprecedented world movement, observes former BJP MP Tarun Vijay, former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
The Congress party has claimed credit for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, from the US, saying the Modi government did not initiate the process and merely benefited from the "mature, consistent and strategic diplomacy" begun under the UPA. Former Home Minister P Chidambaram said the government did not secure any breakthrough to make the extradition possible, nor is it the result of any grandstanding. He added that it was a testament to what the Indian state can achieve when diplomacy, law enforcement and international cooperation are pursued sincerely and without any kind of chest-thumping. Chidambaram detailed the UPA government's efforts in securing Rana's extradition, citing the registration of a case against him in 2009, diplomatic pressure on Canada and the US, and continued efforts despite legal setbacks. He highlighted the role of the UPA in securing Rana's conviction for other terrorism-related offences and the cooperation between the US and Indian agencies in gathering evidence and securing his extradition. The Congress leader further stated that it was the UPA's groundwork that paved the way for Rana's extradition, even after the change in government in 2014.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will host lunch for Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf during his one-day private visit on Saturday to Jaipur but there will be no "substantive" discussions.
India on Sunday said China was more of a major concern than Pakistan given the power the Asian giant has to impact the country in various spheres. Noting that China was necessarily more important in terms of India's global vision and the ties between the two countries could impact the whole region, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said as far as Pakistan was concerned, the impact was "more pacific".
India has turned down Afghanistan's request for the supply of lethal weapons, saying it was not "either in a position or willing" to contribute lethal weapons right now, days after Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
'I don't think it is right to think that the US has unmanageable concerns about India's economy. India can't say we want and we will not give. India has to find a right balance between give and take. I think we have to negotiate like good, solid, businessmen.' External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on India, the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Former external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, on Tuesday, justified India's refusal to play bilateral cricket with Pakistan during the International Cricket Council's Disputes Resolution Committee hearing into a compensation claim against the Board of Control for Cricket in India, a Board official said.
After attracting criticism on the social media for "taking credit", Khurshid on Sunday said that he had only "stated the truth".
There is disquiet within the Congress party about Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid's May 9 China visit.
India on Friday reacted with caution to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's invitation to engage in a comprehensive and sustained dialogue, saying it will depend on circumstances, which have to be considered "thoughtfully".
Stating that war was not a solution to any problem, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said Army officers of both India and Pakistan will meet to discuss the issue of terrorism.
Parrying a direct reply on whether there will be a meeting between Khurshid and Aziz on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet, Spokesperson in External Affairs Ministry said the External Affairs Minister will take the opportunity to interact "informally" with several other leaders present there.
The government's position on a meeting that a journalist had with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed got endorsement from an unexpected quarter on Wednesday with Congress leader Salman Khurshid saying it was a "private initiative" and the Indian High Commission in Islamabad had nothing to do with it.
Pakistan's response to India's "wishlist" with regard to those behind 2008 Mumbai terror attacks is "critical" to "substantive movement" in the bilateral dialogue, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Sunday.
The Enemy Property Act has turned two senior cabinet ministers into adversaries. Salman Khurshid, minister for corporate affairs and minority issues, directly targeted Home Minister P Chidambaram during the Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Disapproving of Pakistan Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Advisor's meeting with Hurriyat leaders, India on Tuesday said for meaningful dialogue for sustainable peace it is necessary that its "sentiments and sensitivities" are respected and termed the recent ceasefire violations by Pakistani army along LoC as "counterproductive".
India and Pakistan must write their own script and should not play into the hands of anyone, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said as he pitched for a "direct" dialogue between the two countries to sort out differences.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, who had earlier accused India of engaging in war-mongering, has offered to hold "discussion and dialogue" with her Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid to resolve the crisis at the Line of Control.
India is ready to give Pakistan "the benefit of the doubt" as the two neighbours pursue peace amid a series of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.
'Are Pakistan and India such small and insignificant countries that we can be pressurised?' asks Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid M Kasuri.
There is no let up in the unseemly sparring between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid being now called a "cockroach" by a BJP spokesperson after he described Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as a "frog just out of the well".
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