New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convene an all-party meeting to brief opposition leaders on India’s position regarding US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of brokering a truce between India and Pakistan.
Ramesh questioned PM Modi’s silence for more than a month after his phone call with Trump during the G7 Summit in Canada.
“Now, for 37 days, the Prime Minister did not say anything. Now, today, we are told that he had a 35-minute call with President Trump, and there is a readout of what the Prime Minister is supposed to have said to Mr Trump. President Trump has also put out a statement from the White House; there is a difference between the two statements. Normally, these statements are different because they appeal to different audiences,” Ramesh pointed out.
He added: “For 37 days, the Prime Minister has kept quiet. And today, we are being asked to believe that this is what he told President Trump. All I’m saying is….. Why can’t the Prime Minister call an all-party meeting tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Take the opposition party leaders into confidence and say the same thing which has been put out today by the foreign secretary.”
Trump’s one-on-one lunch with Munir criticised
Besides, Ramesh hit out at Trump for inviting Pakistan army chief Asim Munir over lunch at the White House. Ramesh said, “He should have made the US President aware of the direct link between Asim Munir’s inflammatory, incendiary, provocative, absolutely unacceptable remarks that he made, which gave oxygen to the Pahalgam terrorists. Pahalgam terrorist attack was a reflection of those remarks of General Asim Munir and the same person is now being invited for a one-on-one lunch with President Trump… In my view, this is an absolute insult to India.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut also questioned PM Modi’s statement. “Modi’s people are saying this, but President Trump should tweet about it and say that he takes back his words. Who will believe what PM Modi will say now?” Raut asked.
Their comments come in the wake of Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s statement that PM Modi had a 35-minute conversation with US President Trump on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada. The discussion primarily revolved around India’s Operation Sindoor.
