New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must immediately chair an all-party meeting upon his return from his three-nation tour to brief leaders on what he has told US President Donald Trump in a telephonic conversation and take the nation into confidence.
The opposition party also termed as a “huge setback” Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir’s scheduled lunch with Trump, and said the PM should have conveyed India’s displeasure on it to the US president during their telephonic conversation.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh asserted that if Indira Gandhi would have been the prime minister she would definitely have conveyed her displeasure to whoever the US President would have been.
Speaking with PTI, Ramesh also urged the government to form a “Pahalgam Review Committee” on the lines of the Kargil Review Committee that was set up three days after the Kargil War and was chaired by K Subrahmanyam, father of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
He said the prime minister must rebut in Parliament Trump’s claims of using trade as an instrument for mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
The Congress leader said the Modi government’s diplomacy must depend less on optics and more on substance.
Ramesh’s remarks came after Modi spoke with President Trump and set the record straight that India had paused strikes on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor following a request from Islamabad and not due to mediation or offer of a trade deal by the US.
In his 35-minute phone call with Trump on Tuesday, Modi briefed the US President on Operation Sindoor, launched by India against terror sites in Pakistan, and made it clear that it has never accepted any third-party mediation and will never accept it in the future, according to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
On Trump’s scheduled lunch with Munir, Ramesh said, “This is a triple jhatka for Indian diplomacy. Today Field Marshal Munir, whose incendiary, inflammatory, provocative and unacceptable remarks formed the background to the Pahalgam terror attack, is set to have lunch with President Trump. The same military man who is not the head of government is being invited for a special one-on-one lunch with President Trump. This is a huge setback.”
“The second huge setback came when US General Michael Kurilla, the US Central Command Chief, had declared Pakistan to be a ‘phenomenal partner’ in counter terror operations. Same Pakistan that gave sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden who was killed in May 2, 2011 in Abbottabad. How does Pakistan become a phenomenal partner? Pakistan is a phenomenal perpetrator.To call a perpetrator partner is a setback for Indian diplomacy,” Ramesh told PTI.
He said the third setback was President Trump 14 times claiming credit for pausing Operation Sindoor and having a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
“He (Trump) says he used trade as an instrument, equating India and Pakistan. He said this 14 times and the PM has not said anything since May 10. So this is a triple setback,” the Congress leader said.
On the Modi-Trump telephonic conversation, Ramesh said the PM is said to have told Trump that trade was not discussed in relation to Operation Sindoor and there is no room for mediation.
“Why doesn’t he say this to the all-party meeting? That is why we have been demanding a special Parliament session so that the PM takes the nation into confidence and say all the things he has supposed to have told President Trump,” Ramesh said.
“When he comes back, let him immediately call an all-party meeting and say this is what my 35-minute conversation with President Trump was all about,” he said.
It has taken 37 days for the PM to break his silence on Trump’s claims made 14 times, Ramesh said, reiterating that Modi must take the nation into confidence.
“I feel that Asim Munir’s lunch and Kurilla’s statements are huge setbacks for PM’s diplomacy. Diplomacy has been high on optics under the Modi government. These are unexpected setbacks. We must depend less on optics and more on substance,” Ramesh said.
“There is no substitute for taking the nation into confidence and building a collective will and resolve,” he said.
Ramesh alleged that Modi was “divider-in-chief” and asked why he doesn’t take opposition leaders into confidence.
“Whatever he has supposed to have told Trump – which the Foreign Secretary has released, let him talk to the opposition parties, let him say all this from his mouth. He must rebut Trump’s claims on the floor of the House. He must rebut it and not get other ministers to do so,” Ramesh said.
Ramesh also said that during his conversation with Trump, Modi should have conveyed India’s displeasure over the scheduled lunch with Munir.
“I would have expected that India would have conveyed its extreme displeasure – If Indira Gandhi would have been PM she would definitely would have conveyed her displeasure to whoever the US President would be whether (Richard) Nixon or (Ronald) Reagan,” he said.
Earlier, in a post on X before the news broke about the Modi-Trump conversation, Ramesh said President Trump himself has “trumpeted” 14 times that he brought about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, meaning he ended Operation Sindoor.
“Field Marshal Asim Munir, the man whose inflammatory, incendiary and provocative remarks were linked directly to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attacks, is having lunch today with President Trump in the White House,” Ramesh said.
Is this why President Trump abandoned the G7 Summit a day early, denying Mr. Narendra Modi a “huge hug”, he asked.
“Gen. Michael Kurilla, the US Central Command Chief calls Pakistan a ‘phenomenal’ partner in counter-terrorism operations. This is a triple jhatka to Howdy Modi by Namaste Trump!” he said.
“Indian diplomacy is being shattered and the PM is totally silent.And tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of his (in)famous clean chit to China,” Ramesh said.
