Surjewala questions PM Modi's silence on Operation Sindoor, Trump's role

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary and MP Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of maintaining a ‘stony silence’ over Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif's claims of ‘false victories’ and sought answers on US President Donald Trump’s role in the understanding on ceasefire reached after Operation Sindoor.

“In so many years, for the first time, PM, Sh. Narendra Modi or Sh. Amit Shah has not come forward to publicly state our position. Why should India’s leadership remain silent, more so when Pakistan PM, Shehbaz Sharif, is claiming false victories?” said Surjewala in a post on X.

“Prime Minister and the Modi Govt have adopted a ‘stony silence’. The strategic, military and political gains and outcomes for India must be spelled out to the Nation!” asked Surjewala.

He also questioned the abrupt halt to ‘Operation Sindoor’, insinuating hidden motives behind the understanding on ceasefire brokered by the US.

“The lingering doubts and lurking questions, viz a viz, the sudden halt of Operation Sindoor just when our Armed Forces had gained a clear upper hand over Pakistan, leaves much to be answered,” he said.

The Congress MP also raised doubts over the timing of arriving at an understanding on ceasefire.

“Every News report, TV Channel and Newspaper screamed out the clear retreat of Pakistan and terrorists and how the ‘terror network’ of Pakistan was going to crumble. Then, why the sudden halt and compromise by mediation from the US President, Mr. Donald Trump? What do we really gain by ceasefire at this crucial juncture?” asked Surjewala.

He also sought the fixing of accountability for the Pahalgam terror attack. “What is the extent of ‘Intelligence and Security failure’, that led to the Pakistan-trained terrorists executing the Pahalgam terror attack? Why was no Security Personnel deployed at Baisaran Meadow, Pahalgam?” he wrote in his post on X.

While calling for replacement of the ‘Agniveer’ scheme for recruitment in armed forces with regular recruitments, the Congress leader said, “We should spend up to 4 per cent of the GDP in the next 5 years to further enhance our military capacities, strategic weapon manufacturing and procurements, adopt and introduce new technologies including artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, machine learning, hypersonics and robotics.”

After Pakistan-supported terrorists killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, India launched Operation Sindoor to avenge the deaths by carrying out airstrikes on nine terror bases in Pakistan on May 7, in which more than 100 terrorists were killed. An understanding with Pakistan on a ceasefire was reached on May 10.

--IANS

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