Govt agreed to ceasefire to protect beloved industrialist friend: Raut
Mumbai: Like the opposition at the national level, the opposition in Maharashtra too has slammed the Narendra Modi-led central government and demanded an all-party meeting to discuss the United States-mediated ceasefire between India and Pakistan and other related issues.
On Sunday, the Shiv Sena (UBT) led the charge, with MP Sanjay Raut accusing the Modi government of acceding to US president Donald Trump's mediation efforts and agreeing to a ceasefire to protect the interests of its 'beloved industrialist friend', without mentioning any names. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar too questioned the intervention by the US president.
Trump was the first to announce on Saturday (May 10) that India and Pakistan had agreed to 'full and immediate ceasefire' after 'a long night of talks mediated by the United States'. In a post later on social media platform Truth Social, he said he was 'very proud' of the leadership in India and Pakistan 'for having the strength, wisdom, and fortitude to fully know and understand that it was time to stop the current aggression that could have led to the death and destruction of so many, and so much'.
Raut referred to Trump's role in the ceasefire deal while addressing a press conference on Sunday. 'On what grounds did the US president intervene in the bilateral issue and why did we agree to his directions regarding a ceasefire,' he asked. 'India is sovereign country of 140 crore people and the decision has damaged the country's image. It does not suit the prime minister who has been speaking about teaching Pakistan a lesson.'
While India had an opportunity to teach 'a lesson of a lifetime' to Pakistan, the Modi government agreed to a ceasefire under the guise of intervention by the US president to protect its 'beloved industrialist friend', he said.
'If Trump is so powerful, why didn't he stop the war between Israel and Palestine? This is an insult of the whole of India. PM Modi should call an all-party meeting and he should be present to answer our questions,' said Raut. He also said that Modi should resign as prime minister as he had betrayed the country.
Raut also said that while countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan had extended support to Pakistan following escalation of the military conflict, no country had come out in support of India.
'What was use of PM Modi's world tours? He visited so many countries but not a single country has stood with India. It's failure of Modi's foreign policy too,' Raut said.
VBA chief Prakash Ambedkar too wondered why the Modi government agreed to a US-mediated ceasefire although the Indian armed forces had the upper hand.
'Why did everyone get to know about the ceasefire from the US president? Did the US pressurise India,' Ambedkar asked.
BJP leaders in Maharashtra did not respond to the comments, saying the matter related to national security and would be addressed by the national leadership.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
17 minutes ago
- NDTV
US, China To Hold Trade Talks In London Tomorrow, Trump Says "Should Go Well"
Washington: Three of President Donald Trump's top aides will face their Chinese counterparts in London on Monday for talks to resolve a trade dispute between the world's two largest economies that has kept global markets on edge. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will represent Washington in the talks, said Trump, who announced the talks in a post on his Truth Social platform but provided no more details. It was not immediately clear who would represent China. The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for more details. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The scheduling of the meeting comes a day after Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. Trump and Xi agreed to visit one another and asked their staffs to hold talks in the meantime. Both countries are under pressure to relieve tensions, with the global economy under pressure over Chinese control over the rare earth mineral exports of which it is the dominant producer and investors more broadly anxious about Trump's wider effort to impose tariffs on goods from most US trading partners. China, meanwhile, has seen its own supply of key US imports like chip-design software and nuclear plant parts curtailed. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 in Geneva to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump's January inauguration. That preliminary deal sparked a global relief rally in stock markets, and US indexes that had been in or near bear market levels have recouped the lion's share of their losses. The S&P 500 stock index, which at its lowest point in early April was down nearly 18% after Trump unveiled his sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs on goods from across the globe, is now only about 2% below its record high from mid-February. The final third of that rally followed the US-China truce struck in Geneva. Still, that temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly threatened an array of punitive measures on trading partners, only to revoke some of them at the last minute. The on-again, off-again approach has baffled world leaders and spooked business executives. Beijing sees mineral exports as a source of leverage - halting those exports could put domestic political pressure on the Republican U.S. president if economic growth sags because companies cannot make mineral-powered products. In recent years, the United States has identified China as its top geopolitical rival and the only country in the world able to challenge the U.S. economically and militarily.
Hans India
26 minutes ago
- Hans India
Be stakeholders in Viksit Bharat vision: UMoS Defence
Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is working tirelessly with a vision to create a strong, self-reliant and self-sufficient developed country for future generations. While addressing the media during his visit to the BJP State Headquarters on Friday, the Minister noted that the Modi-3.0 administration will complete one year on June 9. Over the past 11 years, the government has operated with the motto 'Nation First,' aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 agenda. He emphasised that India has surpassed Japan and is now the fourth-largest economy in the world. Economists project that India could become the third largest economy, surpassing Germany, with a five trillion USD economy by 2027. Sanjay Seth urged BJP party activists and the public to actively participate in the Viksit Bharat agenda. He pointed out that previously, India was a major importer of defense equipment and had not achieved self-reliance in fulfilling a significant portion of its defense needs through domestic production. However, the country is now exporting defense equipment to around 90 countries. He highlighted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Indian defense forces demonstrated their valor during Operation Sindoor, which successfully destroyed nine terrorist hubs inside Pakistan in just 22 minutes. This operation showcases India's military prowess and the preparedness of its forces. Additionally, the Minister mentioned the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' initiative, which involves the mass plantation of saplings across the country. He said that Tiranga Yatras are being organised even in villages, as the local populations wished to express their support for the soldiers guarding the borders thousands of miles away. Earlier, during a meeting with senior leaders of the state party, BJP National Vice-President and Mahbubnagar MP DK Aruna honored Sanjay Seth for his contributions.
Scroll.in
27 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
PM Modi says he will attend G7 summit in Canada
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Friday that he will attend the upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven, or G7, countries, following an invitation from his Canadian counterpart, Mark Carney, who is hosting the summit. The G7 summit, which brings together the heads of France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, is being held this year in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta from June 15 to 17. 'As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada will work together with renewed vigour, guided by mutual respect and shared interests,' Modi said in a post on X. 'Look forward to our meeting at the summit.' Glad to receive a call from Prime Minister @MarkJCarney of Canada. Congratulated him on his recent election victory and thanked him for the invitation to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis later this month. As vibrant democracies bound by deep people-to-people ties, India and Canada… — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 6, 2025 This came days after reports claimed that the prime minister was unlikely to attend the summit this year amid diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Ottawa. On Tuesday, the Congress criticised the Narendra Modi-led government, claiming that India not being invited to the G7 summit was yet another ' major diplomatic bungle '. Party leader Jairam Ramesh said that Indian prime ministers had regularly attended the summit. 'Before 2014, G7 was actually G8 for many years and had included Russia,' Ramesh said in a social media post. 'Dr Manmohan Singh would be invited for G8 Summits where his voice would be heard.' He added: 'For the first time in six years, 'Vishwaguru' will not be in attendance at the Canada summi. Whatever spin may be given, the fact remains that this is yet another big diplomatic bungle.' Ties between India and Canada have been strained since September 2023, when Canada's former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told his country's parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies were actively pursuing 'credible allegations' tying agents of the Indian government to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. Nijjar was a supporter of Khalistan, an independent Sikh nation sought by some groups. He was the head of the Khalistan Tiger Force, which is designated a terrorist outfit in India. India rejected Trudeau's allegations as 'absurd and motivated'. After extending an invitation to Modi, Carney was facing criticism in his country, The Guardian reported. Carney has, however, defended the move, saying it was important to invite the Indian prime minister, considering the country was the 'fifth largest economy in the world, the most populous country in the world and central to supply chains'. Carney was elected as the country's prime minister in March, when he replaced Trudeau, who said in January that he would resign as the leader of the party and therefore as the prime minister. During his poll campaign, earlier this year, Carney had said that his government would look to diversify Canada's trading relationships with 'like-minded countries' and that 'there are opportunities to rebuild the relationship with India'.
