‘Indira hona asaan nahi’, declare posters outside Congress office in Delhi after Pakistan violates ‘de-escalation’ deal

‘Indira hona asaan nahi’, and ‘India misses Indira’ – this is what gigantic posters outside the Congress party headquarters in Delhi read on Sunday morning, after Pakistan violated the ‘de-escalation' agreement the previous night.

Loud explosions were heard and red projectiles seen in several parts of India's western border states, with cities plunging into darkness as complete blackouts were imposed late on Saturday night.

Multiple drones were sighted hours after India and Pakistan had reached a “bilateral understanding” along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border, which India said Pakistan violated.

Congress recalls Indira Gandhi's leadership during 1971 India-Pakistan war

As the Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to stop firing with effect from 5 pm Saturday, Congress leaders recalled former prime minister Indira Gandhi's leadership during the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, quoting Indira Gandhi's remarks to then US president Richard Nixon, telling him that the time had passed when any nation sitting thousands of miles away could give orders to Indians on the basis of colour superiority to do as they wished.

In a post on X, Ramesh wrote, “This is prime minister Indira Gandhi's historic letter to president Nixon of December 12, 1971. Four days later Pakistan surrendered. She ensured that there was no 'neutral site' which has now been agreed to.”

Congress general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal also quoted Indira Gandhi in a post on X.

"'Being a developing country, we have our backbone straight, enough will and resources to fight all atrocities. Times have passed when any nation sitting 3-4 thousand miles away could give orders to Indians,'" he said, quoting her remarks to Nixon. "India terribly misses Indira Gandhi ji today."

The Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, meanwhile, shared on X photographs of Indira Gandhi with armed forces personnel during various points in time and said, “India misses Indira.”

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also heaped praise for the former prime minister on Sunday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the disbursement of $1 billion fund to Pakistan. 

Recalling an incident from the year 1981, Ramesh mentioned that IMF had approved a loan of $5.8 billion for India despite the disagreement of the US who had abstained from the executive board meeting.

However, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was able to persuade the loan from IMF as India to be able to deal with the tripling of oil prices, Ramesh further mentioned in his 'X' post.

India-Pakistan conflict

India and Pakistan decided to stop firing and military action on land and in the air from 5 pm on Saturday, an agreement that Pakistan violated later that night.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri called upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with "seriousness and responsibility".

This was the third consecutive night that Pakistan had violated Indian airspace by launching drones at several locations. Pakistan had also resorted to cross-border firing and shelling along the LoC and International Border.

India had carried out strikes at four airbases in Pakistan in the early hours of Saturday in reply to Pakistan's attack on 26 Indian locations the night before.

Precision strikes were carried out on Pakistani military targets in Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur, and Chunian, as well as radar sites at Pasrur and Sialkot aviation bases, using air-launched weapons from Indian fighter jets, the Indian Army said.

On May 8, Pakistan had launched a series of coordinated drone and missile attacks along India's western border, targeting several regions. Defence officials said the the attacks were intercepted by India's air defence systems, including the S-400 missile defence system, preventing significant damage.

Tensions soared after the Indian Armed Forces on May 7 conducted precision strikes, under Operation Sindoor, targeting terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 attack by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.

(With inputs from agencies)