Pilot says govt should reveal parameters, assurances of understanding with Pakistan

Jaipur, May 20 (PTI) Congress leader Sachin Pilot asked the government to reveal the assurances and parameters of the cessation of military action with Pakistan under Operation Sindoor, saying the neighbouring country's credibility and reliability is questionable.

Pilot, a former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, also said any talk of US mediation on Kashmir should be denied at the highest levels, while he questioned the government for "allowing" it to become an international issue.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on halting all military actions on May 10 after four days of intense hostilities that saw the two sides targeting each other's military installations with drones, missiles and long-range weapons.

Talking to the reporters in Jaipur, the Congress leader said, "The Centre should clarify here on what parameters and assurances the ceasefire was done." "And the interference of America, their talk of mediation on Kashmir should be denied outright. The statement of our foreign ministry spokesperson is meaningless. The denial should come from the highest level that we have not done this agreement out of greed for business or out of fear," he said.

"The way the ceasefire was done, it is announced by the president of a third country. This is unexpected. Such a thing has never happened till date," Pilot said.

He said Pakistan "violated the ceasefire" a few hours after it was announced.

"So, what is the credibility and reliability of the country with which you have done the agreement that such things will not happen in future?" he asked.

The Congress leader said that Kashmir has been a bilateral issue and it "is unfortunate" that it has become an international issue.

Pilot said, "Views from different countries are trying to put India and Pakistan on the same scale, which is wrong because there is no comparison between the two countries." The Congress leader praised the performance of the Indian armed forces during Operation Sindoor, and added that India has the most professional army in the whole world.

Under Operation Sindoor, India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructure early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10.

The Pakistani attempts were strongly responded to by the Indian side, inflicting heavy damage to a number of key Pakistani military installations, including air bases, air defence systems, command and control centres and radar sites. PTI AG SKY SKY