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Time of India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
'Modi ji, what is the truth?': Rahul Gandhi after Donald Trump's 'jets shot down' claim; Congress sharpens attack
Rahul Gandhi after Donald Trump's 'jets shot down' claim (Picture credit: PTI) NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's silence following fresh comments made by US President Donald Trump about mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. This time, Trump went a step ahead and claimed that 'five jets were shot down' in the conflict. Sharing a video of Trump's remarks, Gandhi posted on X: 'Modi ji, what is the truth about the 5 jets? The nation has a right to know!' Rahul's post came as Trump, in what is now his 24th such claim, said at a private Republican dinner that he helped stop a war between India and Pakistan using trade threats. Trump claimed that 'planes were being shot out of the air… five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down, actually.' Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram also criticised the government's silence. 'After President Trump's latest statement, what does the government of India have to say? Silence is no answer,' he wrote on X. 'I would like to believe the government of India, but if the government does not state the truth — actually does not say anything at all on the outcomes of the 5-day war — what do we believe?', he added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Dubai villas | search ads Get Deals Undo The Congress party earlier said PM Modi's silence was a compromise of India's national honour. 'Trump keeps repeating this, and PM Modi remains silent. Why is the nation's honour being bartered for trade?' the party posted. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also weighed in and said that the PM must make a statement in Parliament. 'Just two days before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins, the Trump missile gets fired for the 24th time,' he said, highlighting Trump's repeated claims that a potential nuclear conflict was stopped due to US pressure linked to trade talks. Ramesh also referred to PM Modi's past closeness with Trump, including events like 'Howdy Modi' in 2019 and 'Namaste Trump' in 2020. 'The Prime Minister must respond himself in Parliament. No substitute batsman will do,' he added. Trump has claimed multiple times that he used trade pressure to stop escalating tensions following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people. India responded with Operation Sindoor on May 7, striking nine terror camps. Pakistan retaliated with drones and missiles, which were intercepted by Indian air defences. India later targeted 11 Pakistani airbases in precision strikes. Though Trump insists his trade warnings helped prevent further escalation, India maintains that the ceasefire came after Pakistan's director general of military operations reached out to his Indian counterpart.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Congress demands Modi's statement in Parliament on Trump's ‘five jets shot down' claim
Trump stated that if India and Pakistan want a trade agreement with the US, they have to agree to an immediate ceasefire, Ramesh pointed out. "The sensational new revelation by President Trump this time around is that five jets may have been downed," Ramesh said. "The prime minister, who has had years of friendship and huglomacy with President Trump going back to 'Howdy Modi' in September 2019 and 'Namaste Trump' in February 2020, has to now himself make a clear and categorical statement in Parliament on what President Trump has been claiming over the past 70 days," the Congress leader said. Speaking at the White House during a dinner he hosted for Republican senators on Friday, Trump said: "You had India, Pakistan, that was going in fact, planes were being shot out of the or five. But I think five jets were shot down, actually, that was getting worse and worse, wasn't it? "That was looking like it was going to go, these are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other," he said. "But India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger. And we got it solved through trade. We said, 'You guys want to make a trade deal. We're not making a trade deal if you're going to be throwing around weapons and maybe nuclear weapons'. Both very powerful nuclear states," Trump said. He said his administration achieved more in six months than almost any other administration could accomplish in eight years. "Something I'm very proud of, we stopped a lot of wars, a lot of wars. And these were serious wars, Trump said. The Congress has been demanding that Modi must answer Trump's India-Pakistan "ceasefire" claims in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha during the forthcoming Monsoon Session. Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between the two countries. However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries. In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Modi firmly said that India does not and will "never accept" mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad's request. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
Indian Express
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Congress slams Govt over US advisory, calls it ‘another diplomatic failure'
With the US issuing an advisory for its citizens travelling to India, Congress Tuesday hit out at the Centre calling it 'another diplomatic failure' of PM Narendra Modi-led government. At a press conference, Chairperson of the Congress digital and social media platforms Supriya Shrinate said: 'It is yet another diplomatic failure of the Modi government that the same country under the same leader whom Modi had gone out of way to appease by organising shows like 'Howdy Modi', 'Namaste Trump' and 'Ab ki Bar Trump Sarkar' was repeatedly heaping and hurling insults on India.' '… an advisory is being issued against us while Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir is being invited to enjoy a meal with US President Trump, who has, in turn, hyphenated India and Pakistan,' Shrinate said.
The Wire
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
Modi is Maun: How the Sudden Ceasefire Marred the Prime Minister's PR Script
The Wire had in these columns narrated how Narendra Modi had often lampooned his predecessor as ' Maunmohan' Singh but how he had himself sought the cover of silence as prime minister. Since then, there is a lengthening list of Modi's silences on crucial issues facing the nation. The latest entry on the list is the total maun on Donald Trump's repeated claims that he had forced a ceasefire on India and Pakistan. Modi, who had a highly publicised meeting with the US President in February, had gone out of his way to pamper Trump's ego, including on issues such as the US demand for defence purchases. For three months this year, the entire Modi establishment was pressed into wooing Washington, first to get a meeting with Trump and then to charm the big boss by all available means, which included offering trade and policy concessions. Before that, in Trump's first term, Modi had tried to build a personal rapport, inviting Ivanka Trump to visit India, hosting the 'Namaste Trump' event in Ahmedabad, and attending the 'Howdy, Modi' gathering in Houston. Pandering to Trump was hailed as Modi's 'smart' diplomacy by the godi media, which boasted that India would be the first country to sign a tariff treaty with the US. Now, suddenly, the Modi regime is left to encounter the realities of the liaison and the prime minister has been forced into a humiliating maun – on Trump's claim that he brought about the ceasefire and leveraged trade to do it. Trump repeated this claim multiple times, including after the godi media reported a significant 'walk back' by Washington. Modi, in his post-ceasefire addresses, took the position that repeated assaults by Indian missiles and drones had caused so much damage to the military infrastructure of Pakistan that they reached out for a ceasefire, and the Indian side agreed. But he carefully avoided any mention of Trump. This despite the fact that Trump's remarks were to the point and unequivocal. 'I said, 'Come on. We are going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let's stop it… If you don't stop it, we're not going to do any trade',' the US President recounted to White House correspondents on May 12. Clearly, India's 'strong leader' is caught between his aspiration to emerge as national war hero and thus sweep the polls with a two-thirds majority on the one hand and be a trusted Trump buddy on the other. The Opposition Congress has raised three pertinent questions. They remain unanswered. These are: Compare Modi's ceasefire with the way Indira Gandhi had handled the 1971 India-Pakistan war, when there was intense pressure from the US and its NATO allies to end hostilities. In December, President Richard Nixon had ordered the US Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal. It was a formidable challenge aimed at bending India. But unlike on May 10, 2025, Indira Gandhi did not agree to cease fire. Instead, Indian forces marched into Dhaka and liberated Bangladesh. That was the kind of courage we lack today. One casualty of the sudden ceasefire might have been an ambitious plan to project Modi as a leader in the mould of post-1971-war Indira Gandhi. Journalists covering the PMO and the BJP were talking of such a campaign, involving the civil defence and air raid networks, to be augmented by print and television media, social media warriors, pro-government analysts, professional motivators and influencers. The first mock drill since 1971 was conducted on May 7, with air raid sirens going off around the country and civilians being trained to protect themselves. Modi's cheerleaders began chanting, ' Jo bola so kiya (did what he said he would)'. The allies lined up behind the leader – Chandrababu Naidu said he supported Modi, as did Nitish Kumar and Chirag Paswan. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath launched an advertisement campaign. The build-up appeared to be aimed at ensuring that Modi would sweep the next election with a two-thirds majority, enough to allow the introduction of a 'one election, one party, one leader' regime and presidential style politics. However, on May 12, two days after Trump announced the ceasefire, the BJP leadership decided to settle for a considerably diluted programme – an 11-day 'Tiranga Yatra.' The abrupt ceasefire must have been the reason for the climbdown. Any debate on the four-day India-Pakistan hostilities will not be complete without a relook into the Pahalgam massacre and the events leading to the terrorist attack. In all, 26 innocent civilians were killed on April 22 when the terrorists emerged suddenly from the jungles and began firing, with no counter-action from security forces anywhere in sight. 'There was nothing there, no army, no police, no facilities,' said the grieving widow of a victim at his funeral. 'But when VIPs or big leaders visit, there are dozens of cars, helicopters flying overhead. Who pays for all this? We, the common people, the tax payers. Why no protection for us?' she asked in tears. At the all-party meeting on April 24, the government admitted lapses and claimed that tourists were allowed into the area without the permission of the administration. However, a closer look will reveal that it was not a communication gap, as the government claims, but that the entire administrative apparatus has got entrapped in a chakrayuh of North Block's loud boasts. To justify scrapping Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and the subsequent draconian impositions, home minister Amit Shah has repeatedly said that normality had returned to the region and that there has been all-round progress. In November, Shah had claimed success in fighting terrorism and said the government would soon come out with a 'national counter-terrorism policy and strategy'. Nothing has been heard on that since. By far the most categorical 'all-is-well' assertion in Jammu and Kashmir was on April 8, just days before the terrorists struck at Pahalgam. That day, Shah told a state-level review meeting: 'Due to the sustained and coordinated efforts of the Modi government, the entire terror ecosystem has been crippled. The Modi government is working with an unwavering resolve….' Such assertions from the top might have lulled the administration into complacence, which resulted in 26 people getting killed. It was self-delusion that has led us to what can be described as an archetypal case of the Hubris syndrome. Hubris syndrome, a term coined by former British foreign secretary David Owen, refers to the change in the behaviour of politicians and business leaders as they continue in power and lose touch with reality. Amit Shah has been caught in his own propaganda trap. Opposition leaders had repeatedly questioned his claims. Early this year, chief minister Omar Abdullah had disputed Shah's assertion that normality had returned to Jammu and Kashmir. A month before the massacre, the state Congress had cited several incidents of terrorist activities to hit out at the government for nursing the 'illusion of calm'. Clearly, the government wasn't listening. P. Raman is a veteran journalist.
