As US President Donald Trump is set to host Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir for lunch at the White House, the Congress tried to corner the government on Wednesday saying it was a “triple blow” for Indian foreign policy and that “now even dealing with America has become a big challenge for us”.
The lunch will take place at 1 pm (local time) in the Cabinet Room of the White House.
In a statement, Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh said, “Understand the ‘triple jhatka’ that the Indian foreign policy and diplomacy have received. Today Field Marshal Asim Munir, whose provocative, incendiary, and inflammatory comments are directly linked to the Pahalgam terror attacks.”
Ramesh said the invitation for Munir “is a setback for the Indian diplomacy” and that “we are quiet about it, and have not objected to it”.
“Second, General Michael Kurilla, who is the Head of the US Central Command, says that Pakistan is a phenomenal partner in counter-terrorism. We are saying Pakistan is a phenomenal perpetrator,” he added.
“From May 10 onwards, 14 times President Trump has been claiming that he mediated a ceasefire, he used trade as an instrument, and he put Pakistan and India together. PM was silent. This is the third setback. This was not countered. Today, we are told that he had a 35-minute phone call with President Trump, and he said many of the things that the foreign secretary has given a readout on. Say the same thing in Parliament,” said Ramesh.
Reiterating the Congress demand for a special session to discuss the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, Ramesh said, “Call a special session of Parliament. Call an all-party meeting tomorrow and say the same things that you have supposedly told President Trump on the phone. Why is the Prime Minister silent on such important issues? He should have the courage to speak out.”
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“We want a debate in Parliament; we want a constructive debate; we want an all-party meeting. We want to show unity and solidarity on this issue. Dealing with China, dealing with Pakistan and now even dealing with America has become a big challenge for us. If you don’t want to call a special session, have a 2-3 day debate,” he added.
Ramesh mentioned that after the Kargil war with Pakistan, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government set up a Kargil review committee under the chairmanship of K Subrahmanyam, whose report was tabled in Parliament on February 23, 2000.
“That looked at the whole issue as to why Kargil happened, what lessons we learnt, and what steps we have to take in future. We want a similar exercise. Do a comprehensive assessment. What happened after Pahalgam? What happened during Operation Sindoor?” he asked.
