Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, alleged on Tuesday that Pakistan and China had succeeded in destroying India’s foreign policy post Operation Sindoor.
He claimed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government failed to deter Islamabad with its actions after the Pahalgam terror attack, pointing out that Asim Munir, “the man who carried out terrorism in India”, was hosted in the White House by US President Donald Trump.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Congress MP also attacked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“The EAM and the defence minister said that we deterred Pakistan. Really? The man who committed terrorism in India, Asim Munir, was invited by President Trump to the White House, where even Prime Minister Modi cannot go. President Trump said that the reason he (Asim Munir) is because I wanted to thank him. Thank him for what? For spreading terrorism… I want to ask the EAM on which planet you are sitting? Please come down,” he said in the Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi said that the chief architect of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Asim Munir, having lunch with the President of the United States, was the “new normal”.
“The new normal is that the chief architect of the Pahalgam attack is having lunch with the President of the United States. Now, there’s another new normal: at the end of the operation, and by the way, the operation is still ongoing, they have declared victory. But the operation hasn’t ended. The Government of India now says, ‘Any act of terror is an act of war.’ Now, the government has handed over all the power to terrorists, saying that if you want war, just attack India. It’s madness.”
Referring to Donald Trump’s oft-repeated claim that he had brokered the peace understanding between India and Pakistan after the four-day-long conflict in May, Rahul Gandhi exhorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to state that the US President had been lying.
“US President Donald Trump has said 29 times that he brokered the ceasefire. Fine, if he’s lying, then let Prime Minister Modi say it clearly in his speech here: ‘You are lying. If he has the courage of Indira Gandhi, let him stand here and say, “Donald Trump, you are a liar,” he added.
India has denied that Trump played a role in the ceasefire understanding. New Delhi says Pakistan’s DGMO called his Indian counterpart after the Indian armed forces’ precision strikes on its air bases, seeking cessation of hostilities.
Donald Trump hosted Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, at the White House in June. The lunch meeting was the first time a US president had hosted the head of Pakistan’s army at the White House. At the meeting, Trump expressed “keen interest” in forging a “mutually beneficial trade partnership with Pakistan”.