Abhishek Banerjee’s statement on Op Sindoor delegation surprises Sanjay Jha: 'In all five places Trinamool MP praised govt’

Abhishek Banerjee was part of the delegation that was led by Jha.

Janata Dal (United) working president and MP Sanjay Jha has expressed surprise at Trinamool leader Abhishek Banerjee’s recent statements questioning the effectiveness of the visit of multi-party delegations to various countries.

“He went to all these places, and in all the five places he praised the government on Operation Sindoor,” Jha told Indian Express.

In response to the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, India sent seven all-party delegations to various countries to convey a strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism. Banerjee was part of the delegation that was led by Jha. It also included  former ambassador Mohan Kumar; former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid; BJP MPs Brij Lal, Aparajita Sarangi, Pradan Baruah and Hemang Joshi; and CPI(M) MP John Brittas

According to Jha,  Banerjee had also spoken about the rationale behind keeping the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance.

 What did Banerjee say?

“After reaching out to 33 countries post-Pahalgam in the last one month, how many extended explicit support to India?” Banerjee wrote on X. He sought to know how Pakistan got IMF and World Bank loans despite the attack, and how the country was appointed vice-chair of the UN Security Council’s counter-terror committee barely a month after the attack.

Banerjee sought accountability for the massive breach of national security after 55 days of the Pahalgam attack. The Trinamool MP also questioned why the Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief was given a one-year extension despite the attack.

He also sought to know when India would reclaim Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Banerjee was also supported by his party colleague and MP Derek O’Brien who released a video on this.

Meanwhile, Khurshid told IE it is not “necessary or wise for the delegates to say anything”.

“My view has been that our parties had some agreement to send us abroad on a common issue. When we were abroad, we didn’t have any problem in sharing a common point of view, which was essentially about India’s response to a terror attack. Beyond that, there are, obviously, ideological and political differences of leadership here at home. Therefore, it might be that in conversations and speeches that will get reflected,” Khurshid said.

After their return, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted members of the multiparty delegations at his official residence on June 10. The PM said that the delegation by their very make up and strong advocacy reinforced India’s message of unity in fighting terror.