Centre briefs all-party meeting on 'Operation Sindoor'

The government is briefing an all-party meeting on Thursday on the success of "Operation Sindoor" and its aftermath, as top government functionaries and opposition leaders met for a second time in a fortnight amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22. Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, S Jaishankar, J P Nadda and Nirmala Sitharaman represented the government, while Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from the Congress, Sandip Bandyopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress and DMK's T R Baalu were among the leading opposition figures in the meeting. Singh is chairing the meeting. Other opposition leaders included Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, Sanjay Singh of the AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)'s Supriya Sule, BJD's Sasmit Patra and CPI(M)'s John Brittas.

JD(U) leader Sanjay Jha, Union minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi were also part of the meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government wanted to brief all parties on "Operation Sindoor". In retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes early Wednesday on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke. The military strikes were carried out under 'Operation Sindoor' two weeks after the massacre of 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. The government had earlier called an all-party meeting on April 24 to brief leaders on the attack.

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan following the launch of Operation Sindoor, in response to the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack, the centre on Thursday convened an all-party meeting to brief political parties on its action against terrorism. Union Minister JP Nadda arrived at the Parliament Annexe building to attend the all-party meeting. Congress MP and LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Malikarjun Kharge also remain present in the meeting. Ahead of the meeting, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishes that the country shouldn't be divided in such a situation. "Operation Sindoor has been successfully executed by the armed forces, and the government is very clear about it. PM Modi's intentions have already been known to the world. The PM desires that in such a situation, we shouldn't be divided. It is a situation where every Indian must be united," he told ANI. Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay appreciated the efforts of the armed forces in carrying out Operation Sindoor and appealed that all must stand united. "We salute the Armed Forces. We all must stand united. 140 crore Indians are feeling proud today. We will meet with the government today to discuss this. Operation Sindoor was the perfect operation. We must raise the slogan of the fight against terrorism in the world," Bandyopadhyay told ANI. The government had convened an all-party meeting after the Pahalgam terror attack, and the opposition parties had expressed their full support to the government for any action against the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack. Earlier, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju informed about the meeting, saying that it would be held in the Parliament Library building. "Govt has called an All Party leaders meeting at 11 am on 8th May, 2025 at Committee Room: G-074, in the Parliament Library Building, Parliament Complex in New Delhi," Rijiju said in a post on X. On Wednesday, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi will attend the all-party meeting. This meeting comes as the Indian Army proportionately responded to the unprovoked small-arms and artillery guns firing by the Pakistani Army across the Line of Control (LoC) during the night of May 7 and May 8, as per the officials. The Pakistan Army had resorted to firing in areas opposite in Kupwara and Baramulla districts and Uri and Akhnoor sectors in Jammu and Kashmir. "During the night of May 7-8, Pakistan Army posts resorted to unprovoked fire using small arms and artillery guns across the LoC in areas opposite Kupwara, Baramulla, Uri and Akhnoor areas in J&K. The Indian Army responded proportionately," the statement from the Indian Army stated.