Parliamentary panel on external affairs briefed on surgical strikes

Parliament's Standing Committee on External Affairs was on Tuesday briefed by senior officers on India-Pakistan relations with specific reference to the September 29 surgical strikes.

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar were among the officers who apprised the panel members with the Indian Army's strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

Congress Vice-President and panel member Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting but did not raise any question, informed sources said.

The sources said Border Security Force Director General K.K. Sharma and Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Bipin Rawat, were among the senior officers present at the meeting, where officials answered the questions raised by committee members.

Congress MP Karan Singh later told reporters that the meeting was good.

Nationalist Congress Party MP D.P. Tripathi said: "Overall, it was a satisfactory meeting."

The Standing Committee on External Affairs has 31 members, including 21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. It is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.

Members of the Standing Committee on Defence were last week briefed on the surgical strikes, that came days after the September 18 terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of Jammu and Kashmir and left 19 soldiers martyred.

--IANS

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