‘China Backed Pakistan’: Congress Questions Why BRICS Declaration Ignored Galwan, Op Sindoor

The Congress on Sunday questioned the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the BRICS Summit, saying its condemnation of the Pahalgam terror attack was incomplete as it made no reference to India’s Operation Sindoor, the 2020 Galwan clash or Arunachal Pradesh.

Congress general secretary and Assam in-charge Bhupesh Baghel said the declaration condemned the Pahalgam attack but did not recognise India’s subsequent military response against Pakistan.

“The point is that while they protested against the Pahalgam attack, albeit after so much time had passed, they did not deem ‘Operation Sindoor’ to be right… so that’s incomplete. Nothing was said regarding Galwan or Arunachal, concerning the claims China is making about them,” Baghel said.

The Congress criticism

came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first bilateral meeting in seven years on Indian soil, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two leaders agreed that India and China should take a “strategic and long-term perspective” of their ties, with PM Modi stressing that differences should not become disputes and that the relationship must be guided by “mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest”. He also underlined that peace and tranquillity along the border remained essential for the continued development of bilateral relations and called for adherence to existing agreements and understandings on border issues.

Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir also questioned the significance of the declaration, pointing to China’s support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

“Formalities do happen on international platforms, and since India was the host country, the chairmanship was with India. In such a case, passing the declaration is nothing new, but the question is, those countries that participated in that declaration, when India launched Operation Sindoor after the Pahalgam attack, China was supporting Pakistan at that time. It provided every kind of support to Pakistan. At that time, almost no country supported India,” Mir said.

The New Delhi Declaration strongly condemned the April 22, 2025 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed and several others injured. BRICS leaders said acts of terrorism are “criminal and unjustifiable” regardless of their motivation, and reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, terror financing and safe havens.

The declaration also called for “zero tolerance” towards terrorism and rejected double standards in countering the threat. It said terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group, while stressing that those involved in terrorist activities and their supporters must be held accountable and brought to justice under national and international law.

BRICS further backed stronger institutional cooperation through its Counter-Terrorism Working Group and five subgroups, and called for the expedited finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism under the UN framework. It also called for concerted action against all terrorists and terrorist entities designated by the United Nations. The declaration separately highlighted the need to counter extremism and radicalisation, particularly among younger generations, and to strengthen cooperation among BRICS authorities.