For UPA, inaction was best action post 26/11 attack: Jaishankar in LS

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday clarified that India agreed to the recent ceasefire only after a formal request came through the Pakistani side and dismissed any suggestion of external influence, especially from the United States, in the decision-making process.

Referring to the recent military exchange, Jaishankar said, “On May 9, US Vice-President JD Vance called Prime Minister Narendra Modi warning us of a massive Pakistani attack in the next few hours. The PM made it clear that if such an attack occurred, it would be met with an appropriate response.”

He confirmed that the attack took place on the intervening night of May 9 and 10, but was “foiled by our armed forces”. Jaishankar further stated that India delivered a “devastating” response, referring to the satellite images of Pakistani airfields after the strike, which have been widely circulated.

Rebuffing claims of the US involvement in brokering a ceasefire, Jaishankar asserted, “At no stage in any conversation with the US was there any linkage of trade with what was going on. Secondly, there was no call between the Prime Minister and US President Trump between April 22 and June 17.”

“India only considered the ceasefire after receiving an impression through diplomatic channels that Pakistan wanted to stop fighting, but the Modi government insisted for a formal request via the DGMO (Director General of Military Operations) route.

Notably, US president Donald Trump has claimed multiple times that he brokered a ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan, a claim which has been repeatedly denied by the Indian government.

Following the EAM’s clarification on the ceasefire, Opposition MPs began protesting and raising slogans, after which Union Home Minister Amit Shah rose to defend the government. “Why do you place more faith in a foreign leader’s claim than in our own External Affairs Minister?” the Home Minister asked the Opposition MPs.

Jaishankar also hit back at the Opposition, saying, “People who are asking why we stopped at this point are the same people who thought inaction was the best action after the 26/11 attack.”

It was an apparent reference to India-Pakistan’s joint statement in Egypt’s Sharm-el-Sheikh in 2009, when the then PM Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani agreed that “terrorism was the main threat to both countries”.

“Today people are saying that America is hyphenating you, Russia is hyphenating you. But you [the Opposition] hyphenated India-Pakistan yourself. Worst of all, you accepted a reference to Balochistan back then,” he added.

Citing India’s decisive retaliatory strikes that allegedly struck terror infrastructure in Bhawalpur and Muridke, Jaishankar said, “People who did nothing then have the temerity today to question a government that did so much.”

Didn’t categorically deny US role: Priyanka

"The EAM has made some statements, but has not categorically said that the US was not involved in the ceasefire. He said the PM did not speak to Trump for a certain period, but did not categorically deny the US’ role. That is interesting." -- Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress general secretary