The Congress on Wednesday expressed serious concern over what it called the growing bonhomie between the United States and Pakistan, warning that it had troubling implications for India’s national security and diplomatic standing.
“There seems to be no end to President Trump’s fascination with Field Marshal Asim Munir, whose inflammatory and communally vicious remarks provided the immediate backdrop to the Pakistan-orchestrated terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote on X.
“Day before yesterday, on December 22nd, President Trump once again praised Munir, calling him a ‘highly respected general’,” Ramesh noted after listing out Trump-Munir meetings this year.
Ramesh pointed out that President Trump had hosted Munir to an unprecedented lunch at the White House on 18 June, 2025.
This was followed by a second meeting at the White House on 1 October, 2025, during which the Field Marshal presented Trump with a box of rare earths.
Ramesh added that on 13 October, 2025, while in Egypt, Trump referred to Munir as “my favourite Field Marshal,” and later, on 29 October, praised him as a “great fighter.”
According to the Congress leader, such repeated endorsements amounted to a virtual clean chit to Pakistan in general and to Munir in particular, despite evidence that they supported and enabled the Pahalgam terror attack.
Calling the development as a matter of national concern, Ramesh said the Modi government’s silence on the issue was disconcerting.
He contrasted the current situation with the period following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, when Pakistan, he said, had been thoroughly exposed and discredited on the international stage rather than being celebrated and lionised.
The Congress comments came against the backdrop of President Trump reiterating his claim that he helped prevent a war between India and Pakistan in May 2025.
Speaking at an event at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Monday, Trump praised Field Marshal Munir as a “highly respected general.”
“We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India,” Trump said in response to a question, alongside defence secretary Pete Hegseth and navy secretary John Phelan.
The US president also said that Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had credited him with saving lives through his intervention and mediation.
“You know, eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage, and he actually said the other day that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more,” Trump said.
