Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday mocked Narendra Modi’s silence saying that Donald Trump, a “close friend” of the Prime Minister has again claimed credit for halting global conflicts, including tensions between India and Pakistan.
“As the PM prepares to address the nation, his good friend in Washington DC has once again stolen his thunder and claimed—for the 42nd time — that he stopped Operation Sindoor by using increased trade with America as leverage,” Ramesh wrote on X. “President Trump has made these claims not only at home in the USA, but also in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UK.
“Will the PM address these claims and speak of the increasingly fraught Indo-US relationship? Will he address the concerns of lakhs of Indian H1B holders? Will he provide some assurances to the crores of farmers and workers who stand to lose their livelihood due to his good friend’s tariffs? Or will he just repeat what we all know on the new GST rates — worked out under desperation and which become effective tomorrow?”
The remarks from Ramesh came after Trump, speaking at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder’s Dinner on Saturday, repeated his claim that he had ended several wars during his presidency using trade as leverage.
“On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before,” Trump said. “We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars.”
Citing South Asia specifically, Trump declared: “So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia.” He added, “Think of India and Pakistan. Think of that. And you know how I stopped that — with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders.”
The president expanded his list of conflicts he claimed to have resolved: “Just look at that. India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade.”
Trump recounted conversations in which he was told he could be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize if he managed to end the Russia-Ukraine war. “I said, ‘Well, what about the seven others? I should get a Nobel Prize for each one.’ So they said, ‘But if you stop Russia and Ukraine, sir, you should be able to get the Nobel.’ I said I stopped seven wars. That’s one war, and that’s a big one.”
On Saturday, the Congress criticised the Modi government after Washington announced a steep $100,000 (over Rs 88 lakh) annual fee on H-1B visas for highly skilled workers, a move expected to impact Indian professionals.
Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called the Prime Minister a “weak” leader. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge added that Modi had reduced foreign policy to “bear hugs, hollow slogans and loud optics,” which he said failed to protect India’s national interests.
Ramesh’s intervention on Sunday now puts the spotlight on Modi’s upcoming address to the nation, scheduled today at 5PM.