Huge blow to Indian diplomacy: Congress on Trump-Munir lunch

The Hindu

4 hours ago

The Congress on Thursday (June 19, 2025) attacked the government after U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir for lunch, saying it is a "huge blow" to Indian diplomacy.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said Field Marshal Asim Munir is not the Head of State or Head of government of Pakistan and is the Chief of Army Staff, yet he gets invited by Mr. Trump for lunch and receives much praise.
"This is the same man whose atrocious and inflammatory remarks formed the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks orchestrated by the establishment over which he presides," Mr. Ramesh said on X.
"It is a huge blow to Indian diplomacy (and huglomacy too)," he said, taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
फील्ड मार्शल आसिम मुनीर न तो किसी देश के राष्ट्राध्यक्ष है, न ही किसी सरकार का प्रमुख। वह पाकिस्तान का सेना प्रमुख है। इसके बावजूद उसे राष्ट्रपति ट्रंप ने व्हाइट हाउस में लंच पर आमंत्रित किया और उसकी जमकर तारीफ की।
यह वही व्यक्ति है, जिसके भड़काऊ और आपत्तिजनक बयानों की पृष्ठभूमि… — Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) June 19, 2025
The Congress has been taking swipes at Mr. Modi, giving "hugs" to foreign heads of state during his meetings with them at international or bilateral engagements, using the term "huglomacy" for it.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has said the two very smart leaders of India and Pakistan decided not to continue a war that could have turned nuclear, a first in weeks, he did not claim credit for stopping hostilities between the two neighbouring nations.
Mr. Trump made the remarks while speaking to the media in the Oval Office after hosting Munir for lunch at the White House on Wednesday.
Mr. Trump also said he was honoured to meet Mr. Munir.
When asked if Iran was discussed in his meeting with Mr. Munir, Trump said: Well, they know Iran very well, better than most, and they're not happy about anything. It's not that they're bad with Israel. They know them both, actually, but they probably, maybe they know Iran better, but they see what's going on, and he agreed with me.
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"The reason I had him here, I want to thank him for not going into the war, ending the war. And I want to thank, as you know, Prime Minister Modi just left a little while ago, and we're working on a trade deal with India. We're working on a trade deal with Pakistan," the President said.
"They were both here, but I was with Mr. Modi a few weeks ago. He was here actually, but now we speak to him. And I'm so happy that two smart people, plus you know, people on their staff too, but two smart people, two very smart people decided not to keep going with that war. That could have been a nuclear war. Those are two nuclear powers, big ones, big, big nuclear powers, and they decided that," he said.
This is the first time in weeks that Mr. Trump did not take credit for stopping the military conflict after India launched Operation Sindoor and destroyed terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled areas following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
Since May 10, when India and Pakistan decided to stop the military conflict, Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed on multiple occasions that he helped settle tensions between the two countries and that he told the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours that America would do a lot of trade with them if they stopped the conflict.
Earlier on Thursday, with Mr. Trump repeating his persistent claim that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan, hours after speaking with PM Modi and before meeting Munir, the Congress claimed that he has deflated the hype created by Modi's "PR machinery" and said the prime minister must refute the claims made by the American leader publicly.
Congress' media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, asked whether the word of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs is now so weak that they can't even clearly present India's position in a half-hour call with the U.S. President.
Mr. Khera's remarks came after Modi spoke with Mr. Trump and set the record straight that India had paused strikes on Pakistan during Operation Sindoor following a request from Islamabad and not due to mediation or a trade deal offer by the U.S.
In his 35-minute phone call with Mr. Trump on Tuesday (June 17, 2025), Mr. Modi briefed the U.S. President on Operation Sindoor and made it clear that it has never accepted any third-party mediation and will never accept it in the future, according to Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Hours after his phone conversation with Mr. Modi, Mr. Trump repeated his claim that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan.
In a post on X, Mr. Khera quoted Mr. Trump - "I stopped the war. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi last night. We're going to sign a trade deal very soon." "Once again, Donald Trump has deflated the hype created by Modi ji's PR machinery. What we were told through the Foreign Secretary about the contents of a telephone conversation has been publicly contradicted by Mr. Trump," the Congress leader said.
Is the word of Mr. Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs now so weak that they can't even clearly present India's position in a half-hour call with the U.S. President? he asked.
"When Mr. Trump hyphenated India and Pakistan, the government stayed silent. It was the Opposition that objected," Mr. Khera said.
"Now, Mr. Trump has hyphenated Mr. Modi and (Pakistan Army chief Asim) Mr. Munir, and again, the government remains mute. But the Opposition will never accept this insult to the office of India's Prime Minister," he said.
Mr. Trump is making these claims himself, neither through officials, nor in private phone calls - he's making them repeatedly, publicly, Mr. Khera pointed out.
"It is the Prime Minister who must refute these claims, and he must do so publicly," he asserted.