"PM should answer, he is diverting attention": Jairam Ramesh on Trump's claims of brokering cessation of hostilities between India-Pak

New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI): Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not refuting US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of brokering the understanding of hostilities between India and Pakistan.
Speaking with ANI, Jairam said that Trump has made these claims eight times in the last eleven days, questioning PM Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and others' 'silence'.
"In the last 11 days, US President Trump has repeated 8 times that he convinced India and enabled the ceasefire... But his friend, PM Modi, is quiet. Our foreign minister is quiet. The American Foreign Minister says that it is because of America's mediation that the ceasefire happened. PM Modi doesn't condemn this, NSA doesn't condemn it, Foreign Minister doesn't condemn it. Everyone is quiet," Jairam Ramesh said.
"Donald Trump praises both PM Modi and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif. This means India and Pakistan are in the same boat. India and Pakistan are on the same level. This should be unacceptable to us. Why is the PM silent?" he added.
The Congress MP further urged PM Modi to respond to Donald Trump's claims instead of "diverting attention" by sending delegations to other countries.
"PM Modi used to call him my friend, now my friend says that Operation Sindoor was stopped because of him. The entire country was shocked that why Operation Sindoor was stopped. PM Modi should answer these questions. However, he is diverting attention from these issues. Now, he says that they are sending delegations," Jairam Ramesh said.
Earlier, the US President again said that he facilitated the understanding through trade negotiations that de-escalate tensions between the two nations.
Trump highlighted his personal rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while noting the challenges faced during the process.
"If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India, we settled that whole thing, and I think I settled it through trade. We're doing a big deal with India. We're doing a big deal with Pakistan... You know somebody had to be the last one to shoot, but the shooting was getting worse and worse, bigger and bigger, deeper and deeper into the country. We spoke to them and...we got it settled, and then two days later something happened, and they said it was Trump's fault, but Pakistan has some excellent people and some really good leaders and India is my friend... Modi, he's a great guy," Trump remarked during meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa.
The cessation of hostilities between the two nations came after India's 'Operation Sindoor', launched on May 7, in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians.
India has refuted the claims made by the US President, reiterating its policy that India and Pakistan bilaterally address any matter related to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
"As you are aware, we have a long-standing national position that any issues pertaining to the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir have to be addressed by India and Pakistan bilaterally. That stated policy has not changed. As you are aware, the outstanding matter is the vacation of illegally occupied Indian Territory by Pakistan," the Ministry of External Affairs stated.
The MEA further stated that the "issue of trade" did not come up between Indian and US leaders since the commencement of 'Operation Sindoor' and the cessation of hostilities. (ANI)