Congress seeks Kargil-style probe into Pahalgam after Trump’s claims

The Congress on Tuesday (May 13) said its repeated demands for an all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a special session of Parliament assume even greater urgency and importance in light of the statements from Washington DC.

The opposition party also enquired if the Modi Government would conduct a probe into the Pahalgam terror attack, similar to the Kargil Review Committee that was set up by the Vajpayee Government on July 29, 1999, just three days after the end of the Kargil War.

Kargil Review Committee

Three days after the Kargil War ended, the Vajpayee Government set up the Kargil Review Committee. Its report was tabled in the Parliament on February 23, 2000 although sections of it have remained classified, as indeed they must," Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Committee was chaired by India's strategic affairs guru K Subrahmanyam, whose son is now India's External Affairs Minister, he said.

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"Will the Modi Govt now conduct a similar exercise on Pahalgam, notwithstanding the NIA probe?" asked Ramesh.

"Given the statements from Washington DC, the INC's repeated demands for an all-party meeting TO BE CHAIRED BY THE PM himself and for a special session of Parliament - which is now scheduled to meet at least two and a half months from now - assume even greater urgency and importance," Ramesh said on X.

'Stopped nuclear conflict'

Ramesh's remarks come a day after President Donald Trump reiterated his claim that his administration stopped a "nuclear conflict" between India and Pakistan, telling the South Asian neighbours that America will do a "lot of trade" with them if they end hostilities.

"On Saturday, my administration helped broker a full and immediate ceasefire, I think, a permanent one between India and Pakistan, ending a dangerous conflict of two nations with lots of nuclear weapons," Trump said at the start of a press conference in the White House where he announced that he will set a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

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He started the briefing by describing the administration's contribution to the historic events that took place over the last few days in the Indian subcontinent. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on Saturday (May 10) to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

'No third party involved'

Indian government sources in New Delhi have been maintaining that the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firing and military actions on land, air, and sea with immediate effect.

They have emphasised that no third party was involved in mediating this ceasefire. But Trump said that India and Pakistan were "going at it hot and heavy", and it was seemingly not going to stop, thus requiring him to step in.

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"I'm very proud to let you know that the leadership of India and Pakistan was unwavering, powerful, but unwavering in both cases, having these they really were from the standpoint of having the strength and the wisdom and fortitude to fully know and to understand the gravity of the situation," Trump said.

'Will do a lot of trade if hostilities end'

The US President said he told India and Pakistan that America would do "a lot of trade" with them if they stopped the conflict.

"And we helped a lot, and we helped also with trade. I said, 'Come on, we're going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it. Let's stop it. If you stop it, we're doing trade. If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade".

Trump added, "People have never really used trade the way I used it, that I can tell you. And all of a sudden they (India and Pakistan) said, I think we're going to stop".

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"And they have, and they did it for a lot of reasons, but trade is a big one. We're going to do a lot of trade with Pakistan. We're going to do a lot of trade with India. We're negotiating with India right now. We're going to be soon negotiating with Pakistan, and we stopped a nuclear conflict," Trump said.

President Trump had promised talks and relaxation of tariffs if the conflict between India and Pakistan was mediated and solved in a peaceful manner.