Foreign secretary Vikram Misri told a parliamentary panel on Monday that India’s latest conflict with Pakistan was entirely in the conventional domain and involved no “nuclear signalling” from the other side, adding that military officials spoke to Islamabad only after Operation Sindoor had commenced, people aware of developments said.
At a meeting of the parliamentary committee on external affairs, led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, the foreign secretary also said that the offer for a ceasefire came from Pakistan and that no other country was involved in the negotiations, a senior lawmaker said.
He was asked by many parliamentarians about US President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington had helped India and Pakistan “settle” the “problem”.
“New Delhi had routine talks with the US but there was no mediation,” Misri said, according to the lawmaker. He also found strong support from the lawmakers, over his family coming under attack on social media.
Some Opposition MPs questioned Misri about a video in which Jaishankar could be heard as saying that India sent a message to Pakistan at the start of Operation Sindoor. Misri defended Jaishankar and said people “misunderstood the context”, said a party functionary, asking not to be named. He told the panel that the Indian director general of military operations spoke to his Pakistani counterpart after Operation Sindoor commenced, said the functionary.
Misri’s remarks came hours after Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi launched a fresh attack on external affairs minister S Jaishankar, saying the latter’s silence on the number of aircraft India “lost” during the military action under Operation Sindoor was “damning”.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) has already refuted the allegations – first made over the weekend – and described Gandhi’s claims that Jaishankar acknowledged India having alerted Pakistan before the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7 as “utter misrepresentation”. The Bharatiya Janata Party accused Gandhi of “speaking the language of Pakistan”.
Operation Sindoor was India’s direct military response to the April 22 terror strike at Pahalgam in Kashmir that killed 26 civilians in what was the worst attack on civilians since the 26/11 Mumbai strikes.
India launched the operation in the early hours of May 7, bombing nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The pre-dawn strikes — which killed at least 100 terrorists — sparked a series of attacks and counter attacks across the western border, involving fighter jets, missiles, armed drones, and fierce artillery and rocket duels. In one such counterattack on the night of May 9-10, the air force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. After four days of fighting, military hostilities were stopped on May 10 as the two nations reached an understanding.
This was Misri’s first appearance before the 31-member parliamentary panel. The meeting went on for more than three hours as members asked a flurry of questions to the foreign secretary.
Misri was asked if Indian fighter jets were shot down and why the Indian government was giving Trump the centre stage and not refuting the US President’s claims, said the functionary quoted above. Misri, however, didn’t give any answer to these questions, this person added.
The veteran foreign service officer also found strong support from the panel over the social media attacks faced by his family, especially his daughter, lawyer Didon Misri.
“There was even a desire to have a resolution expressing solidarity with the foreign secretary in the face of the unwarranted attacks on him. He himself requested there should be no resolution. But it was a unanimous sentiment of the committee that he has done a good service for the nation and we all stand with him,” Tharoor said after the meeting
According to functionaries, some lawmakers asked Misri about Chinese missiles being used by the Pakistan military. “It doesn’t matter. We have hammered them,” the foreign secretary replied.
Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda asked how many aircraft went down, but Misri maintained that only the ministry of defence could answer that. Hooda also asked about the International Monetary Fund loan secured by Pakistan in the middle of the conflict, the person said. The foreign secretary said other countries also have relations with Pakistan when he was asked why no major country stood with India, the functionary added.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi drew Mistri’s attention to India and Turkey’s old connections and asked if the relationship can be mended in the light of Istanbul’s support of Islamabad. The foreign secretary said that historically India didn’t have “a good relationship” with Turkey and there was no scope of improvement in the near future. He, however, didn’t answer questions on the demands to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee asked Misri why Indian forces had not been able to nab the four terrorists who killed 26 people in Pahalgam, the person said.
Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s John Brittas asked how the US announced the ceasefire before India, and it knew. Misri said India did not tell the US, said the party functionary.
After the meeting, Tharoor said “many MPs had thoughtful questions to ask.”
“It was a very thorough, wide ranging discussion. We had 24 members attending which was a record I think,” he said.
Misri’s briefing came days before seven Indian delegations embark on their travels to international capitals to disseminate India’s stance on Operation Sindoor.
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