Defense Minister Rajnath Singh Briefs Leaders on ‘Operation Sindoor’ at All-Party Meet

The Union government on Thursday convened an all-party meeting in New Delhi, a day after Indian armed forces carried out ‘Operation Sindoor’—a targeted strike on nine terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The operation was launched in response to the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April, which killed 26 people.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting, which brought together key Union ministers including Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and BJP president J.P. Nadda. Prominent opposition leaders also attended, such as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, DMK’s T.R. Baalu, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha, Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, LJP (Ram Vilas)’s Chirag Paswan, and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the Defence Minister gave a detailed briefing on the operation. “All the leaders have shown maturity at a time when we are all working together. Everyone has hailed and congratulated the armed forces for Operation Sindoor and said that we will support the government and armed forces,” he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi stated that the Opposition will stand by the government on matters of national security. “We have extended our full support to the government,” Gandhi said.

However, despite the united stand of the Opposition, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge took a pointed swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence from the meeting. “Last time he was not there, and this time he isn’t there either. It’s his intention that he thinks he is above the Parliament. When the time comes, we will ask, but now it is a time of crisis, and we don’t want to criticise anyone,” he said.

Operation Sindoor was conducted between 1:04am and 1:30am on Wednesday, during which the Indian armed forces targeted nine terror camps across the border. The operation has received widespread approval from political leaders and families of the victims of the Pahalgam attack. Many described it as a “necessary” move to hold the perpetrators accountable.​