Foreign secretary Vikram Misri told the External Affairs parliamentary committee that the conflict between India and Pakistan was always in the conventional domain, and there was no nuclear signalling by the neighbouring country, sources said.
The sources said Misri reiterated the government’s stand that the decision to stop military actions was taken at a bilateral level, as some opposition members questioned US President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions about his administration’s role in stopping the conflict.
The ministry of external affairs, in a presentation to the Standing Committee on External Affairs which is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, asserted that the initial probe into the Pahalgam terror attack revealed “communication nodes” of terrorists with their “masterminds in Pakistan”.
The ministry said Pakistan’s track record as terror sanctuary is well established, rooted in solid facts and evidence, and said it blames India for the killings of some individuals on its soil despite its allegations being devoid of any facts or any evidence.
It is meant to draw a false equivalence between the two counrries, the ministry said, adding that UN-designated terrorists roam freely in Pakistan and continue to incite violence against India.
When some opposition members of the committee prodded him on the US leader’s repeated attempts to take centre stage, India’s top diplomat quipped that Trump did not seek his consent for doing so.
No other country, the foreign ministry in its presentation said, has “any locus standi” to comment on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, a clear repudiation of the US’ suggestion for mediation between India and Pakistan.
The US leader had even claimed that his country stopped a likely nuclear war that could have killed millions of people.
Several members, mostly from the opposition, raised questions related to the Pahalgam terror attack, whether Pakistan used Chinese platforms, the hostile stand of Turkiye and Azerbaijan against India, Pakistan’s success in getting an IMF loan, and social media-dominated discourse on a host of issues.
An opposition member asked why the Indian government has not come out strongly to rebut Trump.
The foreign ministry, though, has made it clear in its earlier briefings that India and Pakistan agreed on the cessation of firing bilaterally, a point reiterated by Misri who noted the decision was taken at the DGMO-level talks at the request of the neighbouring country.
Replying to queries from members, Misri said the conflict between India and Pakistan was always in the conventional domain, and there was no nuclear signalling by the neighbouring country.
