Bengaluru, May 15 (UNI) The BJP on Thursday strongly dismissed US President Donald Trump's comments on mediating the India-Pakistan conflict, terming them "childish" and irrelevant to India's position, and reaffirmed that India's military operations would continue as long as terrorism persists.
Speaking to media, BJP Karnataka in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Dr Radha Mohan Das Agrawal said, "What Trump did, only he knows. It is like children pushing a stationary train and then claiming they started it. His behaviour is equally childish. The BJP firmly rejects any kind of mediation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already clarified that it was the Pakistani Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) who called up his India’s counterpart and pleaded for a pause in operations."
He added that the war could have ended on May 9 itself if Pakistan had genuinely sought to de-escalate. "Trump has a habit of speaking incessantly. This is not India’s problem, it is a problem for the people of the United States," he said.
Reiterating India’s position, Dr Agrawal said, "This is not a ceasefire but merely a pause. The war will continue. If any terrorist activity takes place on Indian soil, it will be treated as a direct act of war. Operation Sindoor was just a phase in a longer struggle."
He also launched a sharp critique of the Indus Water Treaty, calling it a completely anti-India agreement. "Ninety per cent of the river water was allocated to Pakistan. India’s fields were drying up, while Pakistan’s were flourishing. Shockingly, Nehru even gave Rs 83 crore to Pakistan to build canals. This was separate from the Rs 55 crore given on Gandhiji’s plea,” he said.
Dr Agrawal emphasised that Prime Minister Modi had rightly declared that "blood and water cannot flow together". "If Pakistan continues to support terror, India will take appropriate action," he warned.
Taking a dig at the Congress for repeatedly invoking Indira Gandhi’s leadership during the 1971 war, Dr Agrawal said that while the Indian Army secured a historic military victory, it was squandered diplomatically in the following year by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"We had gained 13,000 square km of territory during the war with East Pakistan but returned it. We did not deport five crore illegal Bangladeshi immigrants who continue to pose serious challenges to the country even today," he said.
Dr Agarwal further pointed out that although India had captured 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war, 56 Indian soldiers who were held captive in Pakistan were never brought back. "In 1971, the Indian Army won the war, but in 1972, Indira Gandhi lost it diplomatically," he said.
Dr Agrawal accused the Congress of selectively highlighting military gains while glossing over strategic and humanitarian losses that followed. He added that the BJP acknowledges and honours the sacrifice of Indian soldiers but holds past governments accountable for not securing the full benefits of the military success.
UNI BDN PRS