Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the claim that United States President Donald Trump pressured India and Pakistan to end the conflict, threatening to stop trade as a means of enforcing a ceasefire.
Trump said, “I told India and Pakistan that if you stop the war, we will do trade, a lot of trade with you; if you don’t, we will not trade. All of a sudden, they stopped.”
The Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, questioned on X, said, “The PM’s much-delayed address to the nation was completely upstaged by President Trump’s revelations a few minutes earlier. The PM was completely silent on them. Has India agreed to US mediation? Has India agreed to a ‘neutral site’ for a dialogue with Pakistan? Will India now give in on US demands for opening Indian markets in autos, agriculture, and other areas?”
He went on to say: “The PM should immediately have a meeting with leaders of all political parties — something he has studiously avoided in the last twenty days. The months ahead will demand both painstaking diplomacy and a collective resolve. One-liners and dialogue-baazi are poor substitutes. We applaud and salute our armed forces unreservedly. They have done the country proud. We are 100% with them at all times. But the PM has still much to answer for.”
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the statements of Modi and Trump were “deeply disturbing.” “The US president says he used trade as a threat to ensure that Operation Sindoor is stopped,” Khera said in a statement. “We expected the PM to respond to this. Unfortunately, he did not.”
The Congress emphasized the need for transparency, especially concerning matters that could impact India’s foreign policy and economic interests.
