'INDIA bloc should have boycotted all-party delegations on Operation Sindoor': Sanjay Raut

NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the opposition INDIA bloc should have "boycotted" the all-party delegations which will go to various countries to put across India's resolve to tackle terrorism against the backdrop of "Operation Sindoor" and the subsequent military clashes with Pakistan."There was no need to send delegations which are funded by the government. What will they do? We have our ambassadors abroad. They are doing their job. INDIA bloc should have boycotted it. They are getting into the trap laid by the government. You are going to defend the sins and crime committed by the government and not the country," news agency PTI quoted Raut, whose party is a member of the opposition alliance, as saying."There was no need to send the delegations in a hurried fashion. The opposition has made a demand to hold a special session on Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam attack. The government is not ready to hold discussion on it," he added.Raut, whose Sena (UBT) and Rajya Sabha colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi is a member of one such delegation, further asked what "deal" US President Donald Trump struck which made India stop its military actions on land, air and sea.Trump has been claiming his administration stopped a "nuclear conflict" between India and Pakistan. According to the US president, he had told the south Asian neighbours America would do a "lot of trade" with them if they ended hostilities.India has consistently maintained there was no third-party involvement and the ceasefire agreement was reached after Pakistan's DGMO (director general of military operations) contacted his Indian counterpart seeking cessation of hostilities.On the intervening night of May 9 and 10, the Indian Air Force destroyed 11 of 12 airbases in Pakistan after a failed attempt by the latter to attack 26 locations in India. The strikes prompted Pakistan to request ceasefire.Under Operation Sindoor on May 7, Indian armed forces successfully targeted nine terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was a retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, in which Pakistan-backed terrorists shot dead 26 male tourists in Jammu and Kashmir.The all-party delegationsFifty-one politicians, parliamentarians and ex-ministers cutting across party lines will be part of the seven delegations. Four of these will be led by leaders of the ruling BJP and its allies - Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JDU) and Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena). Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP), whose parties are among the INDIA bloc constituents, will also head a delegation each.Also Read: India's Operation Sindoor outreach with all-party delegation: Who will brief which country - Full listThe teams will visit a total of 32 countries and the European Union headquarters at Brussels in Belgium.