Salman Khurshid of the Congress on Friday said it was not India but Pakistan that initiated contact during Operation Sindoor to “stop”, and that the call for cessation of hostilities came from Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), to which India responded accordingly.

The former external affairs minister, who was speaking in Indonesia’s Jakarta and is part of one of the seven all-party delegations visiting various countries to present India’s stance on terrorism, firmly rejected claims that India made the first move for the ceasefire. He labelled such suggestions as “complete hogwash”.

“… Because one of you asked, why did we stop? It’s complete hogwash for anyone to say that we called them (Pakistan) first. Why would we call them first? Who was at the receiving end by the time the calls were made? It is more than clear to everybody that the call came from the DGMO of Pakistan to the DGMO of India. And we stopped when they said ‘Let’s stop’… And we then didn’t send any further attacks on them. But the shelling across the border and the LoC continued for at least three or four hours. There were violations of the ceasefire once again, making it very clear that in Pakistan, nobody seems to be in control. The civilian government doesn’t seem to be in control. There are factions within the army, each vying with each other to become powerful. Nevertheless, we showed restraint and patience,” Khurshid said.

The delegation, led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, includes leaders from multiple parties: Aparajita Sarangi (BJP), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Brij Lala (BJP), John Brittas (CPI-M), Pradan Baruah (BJP), Hemang Joshi (BJP), Salman Khurshid (Congress), and Mohan Kumar.

As part of its diplomatic strategy post-Operation Sindoor, the Modi government has sent these delegations abroad to communicate India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism and highlight Pakistan’s complicity in cross-border terror activities.

‘Nobody will distract us’

Khurshid stressed India’s pursuit of greatness and asserted that nothing should derail the nation from its path.

“India is waiting to be great. Nobody will distract us or interfere with that passage of ours. That is why it is important for us to show our strength,” said the Congress leader, underlining the importance of projecting strength to the world.

He also called on Pakistan to heed India’s clear and consistent demand to abandon terrorism, stating that the country’s message is firm and united, rising above political divides.

“If there is any sense in Pakistan, they will understand our only demand: give up terrorism… Some of my colleagues are not from the ruling party. The ruling party could have come alone to bring this message, but they came with us to give India’s message… However, sadly, this is not what we hear from India. Somebody is saying that he is supporting the BJP or the Congress, but I am proud that we are here together because we are not supporting each other’s parties, we are supporting one simple idea called India,” he said.

Khurshid lauded the presence of both ruling and opposition party members in the all-party delegation, noting that their united stand reflects a shared commitment to national interest, not party loyalties.

India sends 7 all-party delegations abroad to push anti-terror message

Seven all-party delegations are currently engaged in diplomatic outreach efforts across the countries assigned to them.

Their mission is to inform global partners about India’s firm response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and its broader stance against cross-border terrorism.

The delegations are interacting with leaders and officials in nations including France, the UK, Germany, the EU, Italy, and Denmark.

Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7, was India’s decisive military retaliation to the Pahalgam attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists that claimed 26 lives.

In the operation, Indian Armed Forces struck terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, eliminating over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

As part of this outreach, the delegations will be visiting several countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Algeria, the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Italy, Denmark, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the UAE, Liberia, Congo, Sierra Leone, the US, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, Russia, Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa.

(With ANI inputs)