New Delhi, May 17 (UNI) The Congress on Saturday said that it supported sending all-party delegation to different countries but emphasised that Members of Parliament should focus on addressing terrorism, which is the main issue and not Kashmir, as the US President Donald Trump is trying to suggest.

The party asserted that the visit of the all-party delegations must "not be politicised" as the country remains one and united in its fight against terrorism and teaching Pakistan a lesson.

During a debriefing here, Congress general secretary, Jairam Ramesh alleged that the decision to send all-party MPs to different countries was a diversionary tactic, and this was sheer opportunism as the government had lost the narrative.

The party, however, questioned the intentions of the government over sending the all-party MPs’ delegation to different countries to put forth India’s point of view on the issue of Pahalgam terror attack and the developments which took place after that.

Ramesh alleged that the delegation visits to the foreign countries was an "afterthought as the government has realised that its narrative had failed".

Replying to a question about the nomination of MPs from his party for the delegation, Ramesh said, “While the Congress is playing by rules, the other party (the BJP) is targeting the bodyline”, he alleged while drawing parallels with cricket where bodyline bowling is considered against the rules.

He said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and asked for four names. He said the Congress party was surprised over the names included in the delegation, which had not been recommended by it.

He said the party had nominated former Cabinet Minister Anand Sharma; Gaurav Gogoi; Syed Naseer Hussain; and Amarinder Singh Raja ‘Warring’ Brar. He said the party gave the names with sincere intention and not with any malicious mindset.

"It is highly probable that the BJP had already decided about the names of the MPs for the delegation and had talked to Kharge and Gandhi merely as a formality," he claimed.

Jairam Ramesh reiterated the party’s demand for holding an all-party meeting and calling a special session of the Parliament to discuss the sensitive issue.

Besides, he added, important issues like the developments in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack, challenges posed by Pakistan and China, and the relationship with the US need to be discussed in the special session.

He also demanded that the Prime Minister should call all the Chief Ministers from across the country for the scheduled meeting on 25th May and not just the NDA Chief Ministers.

Jairam said that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not broken his silence about what the US President Donald Trump has been saying repeatedly. He said, Trump mentioned it seventh time last evening that he had mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Even the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had not answered to the claims being made by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he added.

Ramesh also criticised the government of India’s stand during the IMF discussion for sanctioning loan to Pakistan, saying that India should have opposed the proposal instead of abstaining from the voting.

UNI RBE GNK