PM Modi not able to say 'Trump is lying' as U.S. President will lay bare truth: Rahul Gandhi
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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Prime Minister Modi should state clearly in Parliament that the U.S. President is lying.
The remarks by the Gandhi siblings came after Mr. Trump repeated his claim about playing a role in bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Asked about Mr. Trump's latest remarks repeating his claims and that India is preparing to face higher U.S. tariffs between 20 and 25%, Mr. Gandhi said, "It is obvious, the Prime Minister has not said that Trump is lying. It is obvious what has happened. Everyone knows, he is not able to say it. That is the reality."
"If the Prime Minister says it, then he (Trump) will say openly and will lay bear the truth, so that is why the PM is not able to say anything," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Mr. Gandhi said Mr. Trump is making the remarks to put pressure on the Indian government for the trade deal.
"Now, you see what kind of trade deal happens," he told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Asked about Mr. Trump repeating his claims, Priyanka Gandhi said, "If you hear the words used by the prime minister and the external affairs minister carefully, they are vague. They should say it directly. Rahul ji said yesterday also, he (Modi) should say that the US president is lying. He should say it in Parliament."
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM doesn't have the guts to tell Mr. Trump that he is lying and that "daal mein kuch kala hai (there is something fishy)".
"Our policy has been that we have never accepted any sort of mediation by a third party in negotiations, and it is unacceptable to us even today. Why did they agree? What were the reasons? They should tell the country," Mr. Kharge told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
"He (Modi) did not even take Trump's name even once in his two-hour speech. He should have condemned Trump's remarks and said that he is trying to distort the image of the country," Mr. Kharge said.
In a no-holds-barred attack in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had dared Prime Minister Modi to categorically rebut US President Trump's India-Pakistan ceasefire claims.
"If Modi ji has even 50 per cent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament -- Donald Trump is lying," he had said.
Mr. Modi, who spoke after Mr. Gandhi, affirmed that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor but lamented that while the nation got support from the entire world, the Congress and its allies could not stand behind the valour of the nation's soldiers.
Speaking with reporters after the debate ended, Mr. Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi did not clearly say that Trump is lying. Trump has said 29 times that he brought about a ceasefire, but Narendra Modi did not respond to it."
Since May 10, when Mr. 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 India and Pakistan.
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 Mr. Trump last month, PM Modi had firmly stated 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.
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