Security personnel keeps vigil at India Gate area.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

In a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday questioned the government’s decision to accept a “U.S.-mediated ceasefire” with Pakistan, calling it an “attack on India’s sovereignty” and a missed strategic opportunity to take control of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh demanded that Prime Minister Modi convene an all-party meeting and a special session of Parliament to explain the rationale behind the ceasefire and answer the Opposition’s questions.

His remarks came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire following a “long night” of negotiations facilitated by Washington. Soon after, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated that the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of both countries had agreed to stop all military action on land, air, and sea.

Mr. Singh asked why the government yielded to American mediation at a time when the Indian forces had a “huge opportunity” to “reclaim PoK”— a region he described as a “den of terrorists”.

“When we could have separated Balochistan from Pakistan, like we separated Bangladesh, why did the U.S. declare a ceasefire? Isn’t it playing with the self-respect of 140 crore Indians and the sovereignty of India? Will America’s pressure work on India?” he said.

“Indians want to tell Mr. Modi that no one has the “right to play with the country’s sovereignty”, Mr. Singh asserted, adding that India can make its own decisions.

“This is an attack on India’s sovereignty. For 78 years, our stand has been that both countries will talk and make decisions without a third country. From where did America’s mediation now come? He [Mr. Trump] is calling Pakistan a ‘great country’. Does our PM also consider Pakistan a ‘great country’?” he said.

The senior AAP leader also asked whether Mr. Modi shared Mr. Trump’s view that a discussion should be held on the Kashmir issue.

‘Nuclear bluff’

Responding to Mr. Singh’s remarks, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said Pakistan had “pleaded for an understanding” after suffering “catastrophic losses”. “In just 72 hours, under the decisive leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has rewritten the rules of engagement with Pakistan,” he posted on X.

Mr. Bhandari said India called out Pakistan’s “nuclear bluff” with strategic resolve, struck deep inside Pakistani military zones from Lahore to Rawalpindi and destroyed terror headquarters of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Muridke and Bahawalpur.

India sent a “clear message: no inch of Pakistani territory is beyond India’s reach, crippled Pakistan economically by pausing the Indus Water Treaty,” he said, adding that India isolated Pakistan diplomatically, exposing its terror ecosystem globally.