The US President's repeated claims that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan continue to provide the fodder to the Opposition camp.
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims over brokering a cease-fire between India and Pakistan during the recent conflict, has kicked off a political war of words in India with the Congress targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the claims and asking him to speak up on the issue. After Trump made a fresh statement on the subject, the Congress on Saturday said this is the 11th time in 21 days that PM Modi's "great friend" claimed he had a role to play in the ceasefire between the two neighbours. Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said PM Modi has not even once negated Trump’s claim "When will the PM speak up?" Congress asked.
"Why did we permit the U.S to broker a 'ceasefire Agreement', when our Armed Forces had a clear upper hand and Pakistan was cracking up? What is the 'trade deal' that the U.S President offered and Modi Ji accepted? Is 'trade' more important than Nation? What are the terms of ceasefire? Where are the terrorists who killed 26 innocent people in Pahalgam? Will Pakistan hand them over to us so that we can hang them? Was it part of the ceasefire agreement?" the Congress leader asked.
Emphasising once again that he brokered the cease-fire between India and Pakistan, the President of the United States of America Donald Trump on Friday indicated that the US is very close to making a trade deal with both South Asian countries and that a Pakistani delegation is expected to visit Washington next week to discuss trade matters.
“We stopped India and Pakistan from fighting. I believe that could have turned out into a nuclear disaster,” Trump said during a press conference in the Oval Office with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is leaving the Trump administration after helming the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump added that he wants to thank the “leaders of India, the leaders of Pakistan,” and people of the US.
“We talked about trade and we said ‘we can't trade with people that are shooting at each other and potentially using nuclear weapons',” Trump said, adding that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif are “great leaders” and “they understood, and agreed, and that all stopped”.
The Indian government has maintained that no third party was involved and the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan bilaterally reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect.
The US President's repeated claims that he brokered the ceasefire continued to provide fodder to the Opposition in India
In a series of posts on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh tagged a video clip of Trump to say this is the 11th time in 21 days that PM Modi's "great friend" claimed he had a role to play in the ceasefire between the two neighbours. "When will the PM speak up?" he asked.
In a separate post on X, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said PM Modi has not even once negated Trump’s claim. “Now, documentary evidence in the form of an affidavit is also available,” he said and asked a series of questions to the PM.
