Amid repeated claims from US President Donald Trump that he had brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar Saturday said there was no power in the world that could dictate to India on how to handle its affairs.
Addressing a gathering of the 2024 batch of officers from the Indian Defence Estates Service at V-P Enclave, Dhankhar said: “Don’t be guided by narratives outside. All decisions in this country, a sovereign nation, are taken by its leadership. There is no power on the planet to dictate India how to handle its affairs. We do live in a nation and nations that are a comity. We work in togetherness, we work in tandem. We have mutual respect, diplomatic dialogues. But at the end of the day, we are sovereign, we take our own decisions.”
Dhankar did not name Trump but his statement comes a day after the US president reiterated the ceasefire claim and said that five jets had been shot down during the hostilities between the two countries. On Saturday, the Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in Parliament clarifying the issue.
Taking an apparent swipe at the Opposition in this context, the V-P said: “Is it required to play every bad ball? Is it required to have wrestling sessions as to who said what? One who scores good runs on the cricket pitch always leaves bad balls. They are tempting, but not attempted. And those who attempt, you have safe gloves of the wicket keeper and someone in the gully.”
Dhankar said there would be challenging times that could create divisions, and drew a contrast between Israel and Palestine, and Russia and Ukraine, on one side and Operation Sindoor, India’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, on the other.
“For example, we have seen global conflagrations — two of them in particular, you know them. These have become open-ended. Look at the devastation of property, human lives and their misery. And look at our calibration. We taught a lesson — taught it well. We chose Bahawalpur and Muridke, and then brought it to a temporary conclusion. ‘Operation Sindoor’ is not over, it continues. Some people ask the question — why was it stopped? We are a nation that believes in peace, non-violence, a land of Buddha, Mahavira, and Gandhi. We do not wish to kill even living beings — how can we target human beings? The idea was to generate sanity, to generate a sense of humanity in the others,” he said.
