Pak PM expresses readiness for 'meaningful dialogue' with India
Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed his readiness for a meaningful dialogue with India to address all outstanding issues.
Sharif views on a dialogue with India were expressed during a telephonic conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, little over two months after tensions between the two neighbours escalated post the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
According to Radio Pakistan, the Prime Minister said during the conversation that “Pakistan is ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, water, trade and terrorism”.
Soon after the Pahalgam terror attack, India took multiple punitive measures, including putting the 1960 vintage Indus Water Treaty (IWT) on abeyance and stopping all trade with Pakistan.
India also launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terrorist infrastructure in territories controlled by Pakistan in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.
Prime Minister Sharif reiterated profound gratitude for the Kingdom’s steadfast support to Pakistan during the recent standoff with India, Radio Pakistan said.
Earlier last month too Sharif had, while in Iran and in Azerbaijan, expressed willingness to hold peace talks with India to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir, terrorism, water and trade.
However, India has made it clear that it will only have a dialogue with Pakistan on the return of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the issue of terrorism.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that the Indus Water Treaty will remain in abeyance till the time Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support to cross-border terrorism “just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: 'terror and talks cannot go together, terror and trade cannot go together, and water and blood cannot flow together'.”
Meanwhile, Radio Pakistan further said that Sharif and the Saudi leader also exchanged views on the rapidly evolving situation in West Asia. The Prime Minister said that Pakistan fully supported the immediate de-escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, as well as its peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy.
On his part, the Crown Prince thanked the Prime Minister for the telephone call and appreciated Pakistan’s expression of solidarity and support for the Kingdom, Radio Pakistan said.
Mohammed bin Salman acknowledged Pakistan’s constructive role in promoting a peaceful resolution to the Iran-Israel conflict, it added.
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In MP assembly, Vijayvargiya uses unparliamentary word for LoP Singhar; CM Yadav extends apology
Bhopal (PTI): Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya stirred a controversy when he used an unparliamentary word for the Leader of the Opposition Umang Singhar, prompting speaker Narendra Singh Tomar and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to express regret.
During the discussion on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address in the Assembly on Thursday, the parliamentary affairs minister lost his cool, triggering an uproar.
While participating in the discussion, Singhar cited an agreement between the government and the Adani group in Singrauli and claimed the government was preparing to pay the company Rs 1.25 lakh crore over 25 years in the name of power purchase.
Minister Vishwas Sarang objected to this and said the name of a person not present in the House should not be mentioned, while Vijayvargiya accused Singhar of giving false information.
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Singhar hit back, saying he was willing to provide proof if needed. This led to a heated debate and exchange of accusations between the two, during which Vijayvargiya used an unparliamentary word.
Following this, opposition Congress members sought Vijayvargiya’s resignation, and amid the ruckus, Tomar adjourned the House for a while.
When the House reconvened, Tomar regretted the “uncomfortable situation”.
Referring to former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa, Tomar recalled the ex-CM would often say that anger should be visible while speaking in the House, but it should not reflect.
“Anger shouldn’t arise, but it did today, from both sides. It created an uncomfortable situation. I’m saddened by this, and both the ruling and opposition parties are responsible for this. The parliamentary affairs minister is very experienced, yet how the limits were crossed today is a matter of concern for all of us,” Tomar said and urged both sides to resolve the dispute.
Chief Minister Yadav said he apologised to the House for the words that had been uttered, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
Singhar said he respects the CM’s expression and respects parliamentary decorum. “If something has happened on my part, I also express regret,” Singhar added.
Vijayvargiya too said he has 37 years of political experience, but was unhappy with his behaviour. If people in responsible positions don't follow parliamentary decorum, how can other members do it, he asked.
“I don’t know how all this happened today. Umang’s body language was a little different... I love Umang... I am saddened by my behaviour,” Vijayvargiya said.
Later, Singhar claimed in a post on X that he always stays within his limits.
“My status is to boldly raise the questions of the 7.5 crore people of Madhya Pradesh before your arrogant government. This very status of mine dwarfed you so much that your true nature was revealed; this very status of mine forced you to debate Bhagirathpura,” Singhar said in the media post.
The abusive language used by Vijayvargiya was an insult to the people of MP, he added.
“Minister Vijayvargiya, who treats the public like insects, has truly demonstrated his arrogance. 35 families were destroyed, people were rendered homeless - and when you ask questions, you’re told, ‘stay within your limits!’,” Singhar said.
The Congress leader said public representatives have become so power-drunk that they have begun to consider themselves superior to the people.
“The very people you are trying to remind them of their place will show their true place on an election day. Madhya Pradesh will not tolerate insults. The people know how to respond democratically to an incompetent government driven by arrogance and insensitivity,” Singhar said.
MP Congress chief Jitu Patwari described Vijayvargiya’s behaviour as the height of arrogance and said this is a new manifestation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘New India’.
Patwari said the Congress would protest by burning Vijayvargiya's effigies. Shortly after his announcement, some Youth Congress workers burned a poster of Vijayvargiya outside his residence in Bhopal.
Recently, Vijayvargiya sparked a row when he used the word “ghanta”, a slang often used loosely to mean “nonsense” or “rubbish”, to dismiss a reporter’s question concerning drinking water contamination in Indore.
