New Delhi [India], July 29 : Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MP ET Mohammed Basheer on Tuesday hit out at the centre, saying that India's diplomatic relations with different countries were "diminishing".
He said that the international diplomacy maintained since the time of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi has been "hampered."
"With regard to the diplomacy, cordiality with different countries, we had a very good tradition, started from the period of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi...In that case, we had a position in the world. However, it is diminishing now. That's what we have said. The international diplomacy that we had been maintaining till now has been hampered," Basheer told ANI.
Speaking about the opposition's address in the Parliament yesterday regarding Operation Sindoor, the IUML MP said that the opposition highlighted all issues and asked the government about security lapses in Pahalgam.
"It was a very effective and hot discussion. The opposition had requested a special session earlier, but they didn't hold it. However, during the discussion, we managed to highlight all the issues and asked about security lapses," Basheer said.
"Today, on behalf of the IUML party, I will be speaking. We are also protesting against SIR. The government has not yet told whether or not they will allow a discussion on the issue," he added.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday confirmed that three terrorists who were involved in the killing of civilians were eliminated by the security forces during Operation Mahadev.
Shah said this as he began his address in Lok Sabha amid the ongoing debate on Operation Sindoor and informed that those who killed our citizens in the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack have been killed.
"In a joint Operation Mahadev, the Indian Army, CRPF, and J-K Police have neutralised three terrorists who were involved in the Pahalgam terror attack," Shah said while addressing the lower house.
"Innocent civilians were killed in front of their families by asking their religion. I condemn this barbaric act. I express my sympathies to the families who lost their loved ones," he added.
On the second day of parliamentary discussion on Operation Sindoor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other prominent leaders from the opposition are gearing up to address the lower house.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah initiated the discussion in the Lok Sabha today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the debate in the evening.
According to sources, prominent leaders listed to speak on Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha today are Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MPs Kannimozhi and A Raja, and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP Ganti Harish Madhur Balayogi.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is likely to speak before Prime Minister Modi's address in the lower house. Congress' KC Venugopal has also been listed to speak today along with Priyanka Gandhi.
The sources said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sanjay Jaiswal along with Voice of the People Party (VPP) MP Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon, United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) Joyanta Basumatary, Communist Party of India (CPI) MP K Subbarayan, Trinamool Congress' Saayoni Ghosh, IUML MP Basheer, Janata Dal (United) MP Kaushalendra Kumar, Abdul Rashid Sheikh (Independent), and SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal will be participating in the debate.
This is the seventh day of the ongoing monsoon session. Minutes after it was convened at 11 am, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned until 2 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to deliver his speech in the evening, according to a government source.
Meanwhile, the upper house is holding a 16-hour-long discussion on Op Sindoor today.