Gehlot questions PM on 'understanding' with Pak, says he disappointed India

Ashok Gehlot said that PM Modi failed to clarify the circumstances under which India agreed to a ceasefire with Pakistan

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ''disappointed'' Indians, Hindustan Times reported.

 

According to the report, Gehlot said that PM Modi failed to clarify the circumstances under which India agreed to a ceasefire with Pakistan. His remarks come a day after PM Modi addressed the nation for the first time on Monday evening, since the two-nuclear armed neighbours reached an "understanding to stop all firing and military action".

 

While speaking to the reporters outside Congress headquarters in Delhi, Gehlot also said that the government should have clarified publicly after US President Donald Trump claimed that his people worked to achieve a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. 

 

He said, "The US has always tried to put pressure on India. Indira Gandhi didn’t buckle under pressure. Now that Trump is coming into the picture, the government and MEA should clarify the claims made by Trump. Trump is saying that his people worked overnight. Trump has equated India with Pakistan. My grievance is that the PM didn’t reply to these claims. We should have done so much damage to Pakistan that they would not have been able to promote terrorism."

 

Seeking clarification from the government for not responding to Trump, Gehlot added, "The country wants to know what the pressure is on you so that you are not able to give clarifications on the US’ claims. Why didn’t the government clarify after the first tweet of Trump that, since 1971, our policy has been one of no third-party interference?"

 

He also expressed disappointment with the stopping of 'Operation Sindoor', which was launched by the Indian armed forces on the intervening night of May 6 and May 7. The coordinated missile strikes were launched on terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The missile strike, which the government reiterated were precision strikes on terror targets, came in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.