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'He should have resigned': Congress leader Raashid Alvi counters Chidambaram's 26/11 admission

New Delhi/IBNS: Congress leader Raashid Alvi has sharply reacted to former Union Minister P Chidambaram's admission that the United States had asked the then Congress-led UPA government to not start a war with Pakistan after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008.

IBNS
5 min read
'He should have resigned': Congress leader Raashid Alvi counters Chidambaram's 26/11 admission
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Speaking to ANI, Alvi said, "Why did he remain silent back then? He should have resigned. What was his compulsion to pass such a remark now? Does he want to weaken Rahul Gandhi?

"His remarks will only weaken the Congress and strengthen BJP at a time Rahul Gandhi is claiming the current government is acting under Trump's pressure. What Chidambaram did is wrong."

In a recent interview with ABP Live, Chidambaram, who was then the Union Home Minister, embarrassed the Congress stating the US had asked India to not "react" to the attack, which was carried out by 10 terrorists from the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"The whole world descended upon Delhi to tell us that 'don't start a war," the Congress veteran said.

"Condoleezza Rice, who was the then Secretary of State, flew in two or three days after I took over to meet me and the Prime Minister (then, Dr Manmohan Singh) ... to say 'please don't react'. I said this is a decision which the government will take... it did cross my mind that we should do some act of retribution.

"I did discuss it with the Prime Minister and other people who mattered. Apparently, the Prime Minister had discussed this even when the attack was going on... and the conclusion was, largely influenced by the MEA and the IFS, that we should not physically react to the situation," he added, speaking to the publication.

Chidambaram's admission has armed the country's now ruling party BJP, which came under severe criticism from the Opposition after Operation Sindoor was stopped on May 10, 2025.

Operation Sindoor was launched by the Indian Armed Forces to bust the terrorist hideouts in PoK and beyond in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.

Slamming the Congress, which was leading the UPA government back in 2008, Union Minister and BJP leader Pralhad Joshi posted on X, "After 17 years, Chidambaram, Former Home Minister admits what the nation knew — 26/11 was mishandled due to pressure from foreign powers. Too little, too late."

The BJP had come under Congress' ire after US President Donald Trump first announced the India-Pakistan ceasefire on social media.

Later, Trump claimed he was the broker of the ceasefire deal between India and Pakistan and he used trade as an incentive to stop the military escalation.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has denied any global intervention.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has claimed there was no phone call between Modi and Trump from April 22 to June 17.

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi laimed India "surrendered" during May 7-10 military conflict with Pakistan upon the direction of US President Donald Trump.

"Now I understand BJP-RSS very well. They get scared and run away under pressure like they did in front of Trump. Trump said, 'Modi-ji... what are you doing? Narender, surrender'. Narendra Modi-ji said 'ji huzoor' and acted as per Trump's command," Rahul said.

Tags:
#agartala news#tripura news#northeast herald#national news

IBNS

Senior Staff Reporter at Northeast Herald, covering news from Tripura and Northeast India.

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