The Union government chaired an all-party meeting on Thursday to brief all parties on “Operation Sindoor,” following rising tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam attack on April 22.
Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S. Jaishankar, J.P. Nadda, and Nirmala Sitharaman represented the government, while Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress, Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress, and DMK’s T.R. Baalu were among the leading Opposition figures in the meeting.
The Opposition leaders included Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, IUML’s E.T. Muhammed Basheer, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, and CPI(M)’s John Brittas.
JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha and Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan were also present.
Meanwhile, the absence of Narendra Modi has been criticised by many.
The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, included a briefing on Operation Sindoor, during which all leaders offered their suggestions.
According to reports, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told leaders who attended the all-party meeting that at least “100 terrorists” were killed in Indian strikes under “Operation Sindoor.”
“All the leaders have shown maturity at a time when we are all working together. Everyone has hailed and congratulated the armed forces for Operation Sindoor, and said that we will support the government and armed forces. We have received a few suggestions as well,” said Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
“In the meeting, we heard what they (Centre) had to say. They also said that certain confidential information cannot be shared outside. We told them that we are all with the government,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, extending the Opposition’s support to the government.
When asked his take on the absence of Narendra Modi, Mallikarjun Kharge responded, “This is not the right time to criticise, as we are going through difficult times. We will ask him questions later.”
However, in a later post on X, he said, “We wanted the Prime Minister to attend this all-party meeting and briefly share how India has taken action against terrorism and how our soldiers have shown courage. We salute our soldiers and honour them. We wanted the Prime Minister to personally come and explain everything so that everyone could benefit from it. He did not attend the previous all-party meeting either, which is a matter of great regret.”
He highlighted that they “raised one issue: that people on the border should be given complete security” and that “the families of those who lost their lives in Kashmir should be taken care of.”
He added that they have urged the government to prioritise “the safety of citizens.”
The post also noted that the government clarified, “We have not taken any military action. We have only attacked those places where terrorist camps were located and where terrorists were given shelter.”
Addressing the media, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said, “We have extended our full support to the government. As Mallikarjun Kharge ji said, they mentioned that there are a few things that we don’t want to discuss.”
Rahul Gandhi demanded that the government should convene a parliamentary session so that a positive message is sent out to the world and the country feels reassured.
After attending the meeting, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi called for the launch of a global campaign against the Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. He also urged measures targeting Pakistan’s already strained economy, advocating for the country to be placed on the FATF grey list.
Owaisi urged the central government to push the USA to officially designate TRF as a terrorist organisation.
“I commended our armed forces and the government for Operation Sindoor. Additionally, I proposed initiating a global campaign against TRF and pressing the USA to officially label it as a terrorist group. Furthermore, I suggested that efforts be made to grey-list Pakistan in FATF,” he said.
Owaisi also noted, “The government has a golden opportunity in Kashmir to confront Pakistan and adopt Kashmiris. Those who have lost their lives in Poonch should be declared terrorist victims, and the government should compensate and provide houses for them, as they lost everything because of Pakistan’s ceasefire violations.”
“For me, the biggest takeaways from Operation Sindoor are that Bhawalpur and Muridke—two known terrorist sites—were destroyed,” he said.
He urged that the Indian Air Force deny reports that a Rafale had been downed in Bathinda, as many international media outlets had reported, “as it shouldn’t damage the morale of our armed forces.”
