EAM Jaishankar says, 'No Trump intervention;' Congress claims government afraid

In his nearly hour-long speech, Jaishankar informed that on May 9, US Vice President J D Vance informed Prime Minister Modi that Pakistan was planning a huge attack on India. To this, PM Modi told Vance that India’s response would be appropriate, he said. Pakistan attacked, and India gave a fitting and appropriate response, Jaishankar told the House.

Modi doesn’t have courage: Congress

The Congress on Wednesday said PM Modi is “refusing to unequivocally” deny Trump’s ceasefire claims that have been made “30 times” as the government is afraid and that the PM on a “very weak wicket and has much to cover up”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said PM Modi cannot state that Trump is lying about his role in bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan as if he does so, the American leader will lay bare the truth.

“If the prime minister says it then he (Trump) will say it openly and will lay bare the truth so that is why the PM is not able to say anything,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. Gandhi said Trump is making the remarks to put pressure on the Indian government for the trade deal.

Rahul Gandhi

“Now, you see what kind of trade deal happens,” he told reporters in the Parliament House complex. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM doesn’t have the guts to tell Trump that he is lying and it seems that “daal mein kuch kala hai (there is something fishy)”.

“Our policy has been that we have never accepted any sort of mediation by a third party in negotiations and it is unacceptable to us even today. Why did they agree, what were the reasons, they should tell the country,” Kharge told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

“He (Modi) did not even take Trump’s name even once in his two-hour speech. Modi ji doesn’t have the courage to say that ‘Trump is lying and we shall not tolerate such nonsense’. He should have condemned Trump’s remarks and said that he is trying to distort the image of the country,” Kharge said.

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.

Congress appeased Pak: JP Nadda

Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha J P Nadda on Wednesday tore into the Opposition for its “appeasement” of Pakistan, saying that the Congress-led UPA regime during 2004-14 did not take any action against the neighbouring country despite repeated terror attacks. Nadda said those questioning the government on its response post Pahalgam must introspect on what they did after terror attacks when they were in government.

JP Nadda

Asserting that the government condemns the Pahalgam terror attack “in one voice”, Nadda said, “The Home Minister of our sensitive government was in Kashmir at 5 pm on the day of the attack while the Prime Minister cut short his Saudi Arabia visit”. He further said the political leadership is extremely important as it gives directions to the armed forces.

Nadda said there is a difference between a responsible, sensitive, proactive government and a government which responds according to the need of the hour, and a lukewarm, non-reactive government. “You kept appeasing and never pressured Pakistan despite terrorism,” he said in an apparent reference to the Congress-led governments at the time “We will do injustice with this narrative if we look at the Pahalgam terror attack in isolation,” Nadda said. “They (Pakistan) kept killing us while we served them Biryani,” he added.

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