Pakistan’s emerging position on the international stage raises “serious questions about the substance and style of the self-declared Vishwaguru’s huglomacy,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Saturday in a pointed barb at the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy as leaders from Iran and the US arrived in Islamabad for peace negotiations to end the six-week-old war in West Asia.
Ramesh also accused the BJP-led Centre of kowtowing to China despite Beijing’s alleged role in aiding Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
“The US-Iran meeting is beginning today in Islamabad. The entire world, including India, are hoping that this is the beginning of a durable peace process between the two countries that will not get derailed by Israel’s continuing aggression in its neighbourhood. But serious questions about the substance and style of the self-declared Vishwaguru’s huglomacy arise,” Ramesh wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Ramesh posed four questions to buttress his arguments.
“1. How has Pakistan managed to carve out a new role for itself despite its role in the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack of April 2025 and the diplomatic engagement India mounted to isolate it following the attacks? This failure is especially damming because the Dr Manmohan Singh Government had very effectively isolated Pakistan after the Mumbai terror attacks in Nov 2008,” he wrote.
“2. How has India allowed the US to accord Pakistan this new role even after the Namaste Trump, Howdy Modi, and Phir Ek Baar Trump Sarkar campaigns of Mr. Modi and his cheerleaders? India also agreed to a very clearly one-sided trade deal where it gave much more than what it could get – and yet the Modi Government failed the gain any leverage with the US.
“3. Why didn’t India as the current President of BRICS+ launch any peace or mediation initiative - especially since Iran, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia are members of the BRICs+?
“4. What has India gained from its callibrated capitulation to China in the past eighteen months - especially in view of China’s pivotal role in Pakistan’s response to Operation Sindoor and its continued propping up of Pakistan?”
Peace in West Asia, Ramesh wrote, must return quickly.
“The Strait of Hormuz must once again revert to the situation that prevailed before the US-Israel assault on Iran began on Feb 28th - a mere two days after Mr. Modi had completed a most ill-advised and ill-timed visit to Israel.”
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, is set to participate in the Islamabad talks slated to begin later Saturday, following the arrival of the US delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance.