New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the debate on Operation Sindoor in Lok Sabha, opposition parties on Tuesday said he did not answer their questions including those related to Pahalgam “intelligence failure” and US President Donald Trump’s “ceasefire” claims.
In the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday affirmed that no leader of any country had asked India to stop Operation Sindoor which was still giving “sleepless nights” to the masterminds of the Pahalgam attack.
Modi also rebutted the Opposition’s charge over Trump’s repeated claims of mediating “ceasefire”, saying he had told US Vice President J D Vance on May 9 night that Pakistan will pay dearly for any attack on India.
Opposition leaders, however, said that the prime minister did not give a categorical denial of Trump’s claim of brokering peace between India and Pakistan.
Reacting to the Modi’s reply, Congress leader Pawan Khera said they haven’t received a single answer.
“We were asking for a discussion because both we and the country wanted answers. We haven’t got a single answer,” Khera told PTI Videos.
“We don’t expect the prime minister of the world’s largest democracy to stand like (actress) Lalita Pawar, and cursing the Opposition.” “Simple question is how did Pahalgam happen, how did the terrorists manage to get into India, and attack our civilians, our tourists. No answers,” he said.
“Then you say you launched Operation Sindoor, within 30 minutes you called Pakistan and informed them – no more attacks, you also don’t attack. What kind of arrangement was that,” he said.
“Why did the announcement of ceasefire come from America? That’s a question we haven’t got an answer for,” Khera said.
“Why did you fail in getting the support of a single country? Not a single country condemned Pakistan,” he said.
“He did not even have the courage to name China,” Khera added.
Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav, in an apparent reference to China, said the Indian government was not able to see the real threat, even as he did not name the country.
“They are not able to see the real threat, who is standing behind Pakistan. If they can’t see the real threat despite being in the government what can be done…” he said.
He questioned why terrorists were able to enter India.
“Would the government tell us how the terrorists are coming into India again and again? Who will answer this? There has been an intelligence failure…” he said.
“Who was responsible for the failure? Did anyone take responsibility?” he said.
Yadav said the prime minister should have at least informed (the House) if Rafale fighter jets “flew or not”.
“And then, did Rafale fly or not? I am not talking about falling. Rafale is the most modern, the latest aircraft which has been procured by the Indian government. At least the government could have said that yes, they flew…” he said.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose said the speech was “theatrical”, but failed to answer questions.
“Typically theatrical speech by the prime minister. He failed to answer questions of the Opposition. First question about the intelligence and security failure that led to the terror attack in Pahalgam,” Ghose said.
“Second, why is it that India’s diplomatic outreach failed to achieve the desired results? Third, why has President Trump repeatedly taken the credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire, and linked it to commerce, to trade deal,” she said.
Ghose said the prime minister failed to answer these questions.
“All we had was typical theatre and drama, and typical Nehru bashing,” she said.
She also said PM Modi should say publicly that President Trump is “not telling the truth”.
“The prime minister has failed to counter President Trump,” she said.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said PM Modi tried to take the whole credit for Operation Sindoor.
“Prime Minister Modi, in his two-hour speech, tried to take full credit for Operation Sindoor. At the beginning of the speech, he said that the people of the country supported him. He is wrong, people of the country fully supported the government and the Indian Army,” he said.
He also said the prime minister did not mention China even once in his speech.
Congress MP K C Venugopal said there was nothing new in what the prime minister said.
“What Amit Shah said today morning is repeated by the prime minister. There was nothing else,” he said. PTI AO KVK KVK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.