‘Terror camp strikes hit Pakistan morale, Indus Waters Treaty stays suspended’: Takeaways from Parliamentary panel meet

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Monday, 26 May, chaired a meeting on the Consultative Committee of Parliament of MEA and addressed several issues on the recent India-Pakistan conflict. The Parliamentary consultative committee was informed that strikes on three major terror camps inside Pakistan had dented the morale of its armed forces, a news agency quoted sources as saying.

“Because we made it a fight/an operation against terror, the international community has backed India. It wasn’t against Pakistan per se so the support came from all countries other than just 3 - Turkey, Azerbaijan and China,” the panel was told.

The Congress also raised the controversy over S Jaishankar tipping Pakistan off about the strikes. Responding to questions on the controversy, the government explained that “there was absolutely no conversation between India and Pakistan in any manner other than DGMO level, and that too only after the strikes.”

“The sequence of events was - the terror hubs were hit, PIB issued a press release, the DGMO of India contacted the Pakistani DGMO,” it said, adding that the “EAM called the allegations by the Congress against him as dishonest and a misrepresentation of events.”

On the Indus Water Treaty, the government said that it remains in abeyance.

On Donald Trump's claims that he brokered peace between India and Pakistan, the government said that the Americans and other countries had encouraged New Delhi to talk to Islamabad, but they were told that “terror and talks will not go together.”

Congress sources have said that during the meeting, the government “was unable to explain why India-Pakistan hyphenation is now a reality.”

“The Congress also raised the issue of the IMF loan to Pakistan and the abstention of India. The Congress raised its concern about deepening military and strategic ties between Pakistan and China,” Congress sources said.