Hardening its stand vis-à-vis Pakistan, the Opposition Congress on Monday demanded the Modi Government to convene a special session of Parliament to declare Pakistan as a terror state and impose economic sanctions against the neighbouring rogue state.
The party also sought the scrapping of the Most Favoured Nation(MFN) status, scaling down of respective High Commissions and immediate grant of political asylum to Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti.
The Congress asked for convening of a special Parliament session to discuss the security situation in India post the Uri attack, wherein 18 Army personnel were killed by terrorists.
“Pakistan should be declared a terrorist state immediately, a special Parliament session should also be called,” said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi.
The strident Congress stand was made public after a meeting of senior leaders here. The party severely criticised the Modi Government and sought to depict its response to the Uri attack as lacking in substance.
“By now, Pakistan should already have been declared a terrorist state. We demand there should be a special session of Parliament to discuss our security situation and to declare Pak a terrorist State”, Singhvi said.
He further demanded, “We demand near absolute economic sanctions against Pakistan. We demand considerable scaling down of Pakistan’s High Commission in Delhi and our High Commission in Pakistan. Why is there a delay in considering and finalising the asylum request of the Baloch leaderIJ”
The Congress spokesperson accused the Modi Government of failing to follow up the security measures the UPA regime took following the 26/11 terror attacks.
“UPA regime activated the concept of NCTC. Post-2014, the Modi Government hasn’t even notified NCTC. UPA regime raised 79 new battalions of para-military forces, 20 counter insurgency and anti-terrorism schools and four hubs for the NSG Commandos were created. The NDA had promised 2 more hubs and nothing has happened. The NDA has also given up on UPA’s plans for police reforms”, Singhvi alleged.
The main opposition party’s demands are obviously aimed at remaining two steps ahead of the government in its Pak-offensive given the public mood.