India today misses Indira Gandhi, says Congress

NEW DELHI: Reacting to the announcement of pause in Indo-Pak hostilities by US President Donald Trump , Congress demanded that PM Narendra Modi chair an all-party meeting and convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the recent events and demonstrate national unity for future.

The demand was accompanied by a Congress lament that "India today misses Indira Gandhi ", in what appeared a veiled jibe at Modi over the US-mediated end to hostilities with the belligerent neighbour and the assertion that Indira Gandhi had rebuffed pressure from the superpower.

Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh posted the letter written by Indira to US President Richard Nixon on Dec 12, 1971, and "four days later Pakistan surrendered". He said Indira ensured that there was no "neutral site which has now been agreed to".

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said it was "unprecedented" that India came to know about the pause in hostilities from Trump and not any Indian official.

Ramesh said, "In view of the unprecedented announcements from Washington DC, there is now a need, more than ever before, for the PM to chair an all-party meeting and take political parties into confidence, and a special session of Parliament to discuss the events of the last 18 days, beginning with the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks and the way forward, and to demonstrate a collective resolve."

Khera said the questions that arise out of the Trump announcement can only be asked at a special session and in an all-party meeting.