India doesn’t engage in ‘dalali’: EAM on Pak’s negotiator offer

NEw new delhi: extraneous affairs government minister S Jaishankar reminded lawmakers in an all-party get together on midweek that unlike Pakistan, India doesn’t engage in “dalali” (brokering) as he downplayed Islamabad’s role as a negotiator in the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran, said lawmakers present at the meeting.Jaishankar also informed the lawmakers that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested President Donald Trump to “end the war at the earliest” as it was hurting the global economy, they added.Briefing an all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis, the government tried to assure the lawmakers of various parties that India held enough fuel stocks and five more tankers were expected to reach the country in the coming days. The government also denied that it was silent on the killing of Ayatollah Khamenei and emphasised that New Delhi had a good relationship with Tehran.In the all-party meeting chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh, questions were raised on Pakistan and its field marshal Asim Munir positioning as a key negotiator between Iran and the US. Jaishankar, however, sharply hit back at Pakistan, saying, “India doesn’t do dalali like Pakistan.”He also added that Pakistan had been trying to act as a negotiator since 1981, according to lawmakers.The external affairs minister, who mostly spoke in the meeting, also told the lawmakers that the PM had asked Trump to end the war as early as possible during their telephonic conversation on Tuesday.In the first conversation between the two leaders since the Iran war started, Modi had also backed efforts to restore peace in West Asia and emphasised on keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure for the global community.As many as eight ministers, including Singh, Jaishankar, home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, health minister JP Nadda, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, petroleum minister Hardeep Singh and fisheries minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh were present at the meeting.Later, Rijiju told the media, “We have heard in detail all the suggestions made by the Opposition, all the queries and all the confusion-- whatever was there—all were clearly explained by the government. It is important to note that at the end of the meeting, the opposition parties thanked the government for calling this all-party meeting and they also asserted that in such a difficult, challenging situation, we will all have to stand together.”Congress’ Mukul Wasnik, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader John Brittas, Nationalist Congress Party(Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule and All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi posed a number of questions. Samajwadi Party’s Dharmendra Yadav, Owaisi and Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh asked the government about Pakistan’s role, according to the lawmakers.Owaisi sought to know about India’s energy autonomy. He said, “The US earlier said, don’t buy oil from Russia. We stopped buying Russian oil. Then it said, you can buy Russian oil, and we restarted buying Russian oil.”Owaisi also proposed creating an Asian security axis between India, Japan, China and South Korea. Jaishankar said that a total of 18 ships which were Indian or operated by Indian crew were stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the MPs.The Opposition suggested that an MPs’ delegation should go to the Iranian embassy. Some leaders including Owaisi and Dharmendra Yadav questioned the PM’s trip to Israel just before the war started and demanded a condolence proposal over the death of 1,500 people in Lebanon, after foreign secretary Vikram Misri gave the presentation on the current situation, the lawmakers said.Opposition leaders, including Owaisi and Brittas, questioned the delay in offering condolences for the death of Khamenei; Jaishankar responded by saying that the Iranian embassy opened its gate after five days. The Opposition also questioned India’s over-dependence on Qatar for supply of gas and said that India, a member of Quad and Brics, should have played a bigger role than Pakistan.When accused of using silence as statecraft by Brittas, Jaishankar said, “We were never silent. We have been talking with everybody, commenting, posting, responding.”Shah intervened twice to explain the current position on LPGs and how the supplies were enhanced. The government maintained that it was difficult to predict what would happen in the future in terms of the war and its impact.