Parliament debate: Jaishankar denies Trump’s claim of direct talks with Modi

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Verbal clash over SP MP Dharmendra Yadav's remark

There was a heated exchange between SP's Dharmendra Yadav and Treasury MPs after the former slammed the Centre for being forced to "come to its knees" by a foreign government.

Yadav was referring to US President Donald Trump's repeated assertion of brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan when he said, a ''foreign country forced (the government) to come to its knees and till date you have not been able to respond (to Trump's claims)".

BJP MP Dilip Saikia, who was presiding over the proceedings, immediately directed that the remarks be expunged as Treasury MPs rose in protest. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman protested, saying Yadav was "completely wrong" and the Chair must direct to "remove that line".

As Saikia pleaded with Sitharaman to take her seat, she said, Yadav "has not listened to the foreign minister when he spoke, he has not listened to the defence minister... and above all he seems to, while conceding that we won, say wrong things... his speech should be removed from the records, he is speaking lies. You remove it from the record".

Subsequently, Saikia directed to  "remove the sentence from the records" while Yadav protested.

Why was the Centre silent when Kashmiris were attacked in many states, asks NC MP

Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, National Conference MP from Srinagar, has made an impassioned intervention during the discussion.

Mehdi has slammed the Centre for its deafening silence on the attacks on and targeting of Kashmiris across India that were widely reported following the Pahalgam attack.

"More than 11 cases had to be filed across different states by Kashmiri students, traders, and professionals who were targeted. People were thrown out of their jobs, their homes, and hostels in different states. Why this hate for Kashmiris? Did anyone from the government speak up against it? Is Kashmir just a piece of land for you people? Do laws to protect people not apply to Kashmiris in other states? You started the attack (Pakistan) later but the first attack was directed at ordinary Kashmiris. Security agencies blasted at least 13 homes across Kashmir on mere suspicion that those homes sheltered terrorists. What did you get? Under what law was it done?"

Is there a picnic happening on the border? Chandrashekhar Azad takes a dig

Azad Samaj Party leader Chandrashekhar Azad adds:  

Today, they are saying in Operation Mahadev, all three Pahalgam masterminds have been killed. Some days ago, there were reports that the mastermind of Pahalgam was in Pakistan. What is going on? Is there some picnic on the border that whenever they want, they come inside Kashmir, and when they wish, they go across to Pakistan?

Why didn't govt condemn BJP MP's comment on Col Sofiya Qureshi: Chandrashekhar Azad

Azad Samaj Party leader Chandrashekhar Azad, MP from Nagina, Uttar Pradesh, remarked about the alleged intelligence failure in Pahalgam.

"Can the government inform us how the terrorists reached Baisaran? Can it inform us of the intelligence failures? Can the government tell us if it has placed on record at international platforms a demand to not grant any financial aid to Pakistan till Pakistan stops terror activity? Can the government tell us if it has placed on record objections at the IMF for the bailout given to Pakistan? Can they tell us why the PM did not visit Pahalgam after the attack?" he asked.

"This government talks of respect for the Armed Forces. Days after this incident (Pahalgam), the Forces were provided a train that was in such a condition that they refused to travel in it. The sort of language that was used for Col Sofiya Qureshi by a BJP minister — why did the government not condemn it?" he further said.

"Pakistan requested you for ceasefire and you accepted. Why? You say Operation Sindoor is only on pause and hasn't been stopped, so does that mean we are still under threat? Shouldn't the government explain all this? Someone sitting in US is taking decisions for India. How are we allowing this?" he added.

3 jets lost, Trump intervened, says Francis George; expunge statement, says Anurag Thakur

Francis George, Kerala Congress MP from Kottaya, spoke about the alleged loss of three jets. He said it was an embarrassment that the information was 'leaked'. 

"The government has officially denied it, but the truth has a way to come out. Independent analysis, our own defence attaches, international media and open source intelligence have shown that we lost at least three jets, perhaps Rafales. When such information comes out from elsewhere, we come across as being dishonest," he said.

"Isn't it a diplomatic humiliation that the US President is taking credit for the ceasefire? Our media surviving on handouts and leaks from the government went ahead and made claims that were so far from the reality that the country was embarrassed," he added.

Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, asked Francis George to either authenticate all his claims, or for the claims to be expunged. The External Affairs Minister and Defence Minister had, earlier in the discussion, dismissed these claims, he pointed out.

How is Modi allowing cricket match with Pakistan: Owaisi

Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM MP from Hyderabad, began his speech by thanking the people of Kashmir and congratulating the Armed Forces. 

"I want to thank the people of Kashmir who, after Pahalgam, took to the streets and appealed for peace. I also want to congratulate the Armed Forces for the success of their operation," he said.

"Pakistan's existential reason is to destabilise India and create divisions here. If we allow these divisions to grow, we will aid Pakistan's success," he added.

"I want to ask the PM who says blood and water can't flow together, when we are stopping Pakistan's water? We aren't opening our air space to them, then how are you allowing cricket with Pakistan? How does your conscience allow you to let this happen? he asked.

"I want to ask the PM, who is accountable for what happened in Pahalgam? Has any accountability been fixed till date? I want to ask, what is your deterrence? You did surgical strikes in Pulwama but despite that Pahalgam happened. What is your foreign policy?" wondered Owaisi in his speech.

"The country you are negotiating a trade deal with (US) has invited the army chief of Pakistan for lunch. The president of a different country (Trump) is announcing when we will have a ceasefire. What kind of foreign policy is this?" he added.

"The External Affairs Minister said a while ago that he visited China for talks. Did he ask China why it was supplying weapons to Pakistan?"

Why can't Modi govt call Trump's bluff, asks Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka

Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka from Odisha took on the Centre over its claim that Trump had nothing directly to do with the ceasefire.

"Several speakers from the government side have mentioned today that the US had no role in the India and Pakistan ceasefire. If this is the case, why hasn't the Prime Minister made a statement to this effect publicly? Why can't you call (Donald Trump's) bluff?" he asked.

"The Parliamentary Affairs Minister (Kiren Rijiju) has likened Operation Sindoor to how Lanka burned when Ravan crossed the Lakshman Rekha. I want to ask — did Hanuman inform Ravan when he went to burn Lanka," he quipped.

Ulaka further said: "At the UN, we failed to get a single statement naming or condemning Pakistan. Trump has said 26 times he negotiated the ceasefire; you (Centre) are not able to counter him directly. Is this your foreign policy? You have made a mess of our foreign policy. Don't you remember Ladakh, and the lives we lost there? And the PM said no one came (from China) into Ladakh."

How did terrorists come to Pahalgam? Gogoi wants to know

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi today opened the Opposition’s response to the Operation Sindoor debate in the Lok Sabha, following Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s address praising the Indian Armed Forces for their decisive strikes targeting terrorist infrastructure in response to the Pahalgam attack.

Gogoi urged Parliament to use the debate to uncover the full truth behind the Pahalgam massacre, Operation Sindoor, and India’s foreign policy choices.

Read the news here.

Opposition should ask if Operation Sindoor was a success: Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said in Lok Sabha that the Indian armed forces did not suffer any damages during Operation Sindoor, adding that instead of asking how many jets the Indian Air Force (IAF) lost, the Opposition should have asked how many enemy jets India has downed.

“The Opposition should ask if Operation Sindoor avenged the Sindoor of those women who lost their husbands in Pahalgam. The answer is yes. If the Opposition asks whether we suffered any damages, the answer is no,” said Rajnath.

Read the news here.