New Delhi:
The killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistanis late on Monday night caused fireworks in Parliament, with the main opposition BJP tearing into the government on foreign policy and asserting that India must not resume talks with Pakistan.
"The government should clarify - is the Congress with Pakistan or India?" asked BJP MP Yashwant Sinha in the Lok Sabha.
In the Rajya Sabha, the party's Arun Jaitley said the Indian government must give a "befitting reply" to Pakistan, warning that it should never lower its guard against the neighbour. "We cannot make a spectacle of ourselves in the world that we are the willing recipients of such attacks," he said.
Mr Jaitley, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, also said after a short statement by Defence Minister AK Antony, "When the minister says something so ambiguous like 'people dressed in army uniforms' it gives Pakistan a route of escape."
The BJP has demanded that the government share with Parliament its foreign policy strategy after the attack. "Five security persons were martyred... It is a gross mismanagement of India's foreign Policy," said BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad.
As his colleagues cornered the government in Parliament, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi tweeted outside: "From China's intrusions to Pakistan's ambushes - UPA government has been absolutely lax in securing Indian borders. When will the Centre wake up?"
Lok Sabha MP Shahnawaz Husain, who met the Speaker along with Sushma Swaraj, Yashwant Sinha and Murli Manohar Joshi to demand a discussion on the killings, said: "The government should have a policy that if even a single bullet is fired, there should be no talks."
India and Pakistan were set to resume dialogue with water talks later this month and the two Prime Ministers were to meet in end-September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Sources say no dates have been set for dialogue, but the latest assault may impact the peace process once again.