Reports said the government told the Opposition that the military action was "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible" and focused on dismantling terrorist infrastructure to deter and pre-empt further attacks.
Published May 08, 2025 | 1:36 PM ⚊ Updated May 08, 2025 | 1:36 PM
An all-party meeting was held to brief the Opposition about Operation Sindoor.
Synopsis: An all-party meeting was held to brief the Opposition about Operation Sindoor. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Congress and other parties fully support the government in the military action.
In an all-party meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday, 8 May, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed the Opposition about Operation Sindoor. The government said that over 100 terrorists were killed.
During the meeting, also attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, JP Nadda, Kiren Rijiju, Nirmala Sitharaman and others, opposition leaders were given specifics about the targets selected during the military operation on early Wednesday.
The “Operation Sindoor” hit nine terrorist infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK). The operation came as a response to the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 people.
When the media asked Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge about the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the meeting, he said such questions could be raised on a later occasion.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Congress and other parties fully support the government in the military action.
The Congress had demanded the prime minister’s presence since he was also absent during the all-party meeting immediately after the terror attack in Pahalgam.
Sandip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress and DMK’s TR Baalu, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, Union minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi were also part of the meeting.
Reports said the government told the Opposition that the military action was “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” and focused on dismantling terrorist infrastructure to deter and pre-empt further attacks.
The government has said it has proof validating Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam attack, just as it was in other attacks on India. Pakistan has denied its involvement.
Meanwhile, Modi chaired a security meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan at around the same time as the all-party meeting.
“Our country has taken a big action. We have called for an all-party meeting over Operation Sindoor, which was conducted by our armed forces. We must brief all the parties about the situation, as it is the responsibility of the government, and the PM has directed us to do so. The entire country is with the armed forces. We all must stand united,” Rijiju had said ahead of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Owaisi said that he demanded that the government take steps to initiate an international campaign against TRF (The Resistance Front), which claimed responsibility for the attack.
“We must request the US that they should declare the TRF as a terrorist organisation in their country,” Owaisi said.
He stated that the Union government must also make the same request to the UK, adding that they must also place sanctions on Pakistan.
“The Kashmir government has a golden opportunity. You must get closer to the Kashmiris,” he proposed and demanded that the victims of the Poonch attack be given an ex-gratia.
“The discussions were conducted constructively and seriously, given the gravity of the issue at hand. The defence minister briefed all leaders in detail about Operation Sindoor. Each leader expressed their views with responsibility and maturity, recognising the major challenge the country is currently facing,” Rijiju said after the meeting.
“Across party lines, political leaders said that there is no place for politics in such critical times. All leaders unanimously congratulated our armed forces on the success of Operation Sindoor and assured their full support to the government, with no dissent whatsoever. Several valuable suggestions were also put forward during the meeting.”
“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that today’s meeting shows that we don’t do politics only for forming the government but for building the nation,” he added.
