Congress terms Modi-Trump call a 'triple jolt', BJP hits back with 'congenital liar' jab

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent 35-minute telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump—during which Mr Modi dismissed Mr Trump’s claim that Washington brokered the India-Pakistan cease-fire after Operation Sindoor—triggered sharp criticism from the opposition on Wednesday.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh dubbed the call a “triple jolt” to India, arguing that its timing undermined New Delhi’s diplomatic position. The first “shock”, he said, is that Pakistan’s army chief General Asim Munir—whose fiery remarks about Kashmir were linked to the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack—was scheduled to lunch with President Trump at the White House the same day.

Mr Ramesh questioned whether the Prime Minister had confronted the US leader about Gen Munir’s comments, which External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar previously cited as fuelling the Pahalgam massacre that killed 26 people. He also pointed to President Trump’s repeated assertions—by his count, 14 times—that he had “helped settle” Indo-Pak tensions, and to a senior American general’s praise of Islamabad as a “phenomenal” counter-terror partner. Together, Mr Ramesh said, these amounted to “three hard hits” to Indian diplomacy.

The Congress spokesperson demanded that Mr Modi brief Parliament and convene an all-party meeting to share details of the call, noting discrepancies between the Foreign Secretary’s statement and what he claimed was a White House read-out. He challenged the Prime Minister to “take the opposition into confidence” and repeat in Parliament the firm rejection of third-party mediation reportedly conveyed to President Trump.

The BJP hit back quickly. Party IT-cell chief Amit Malviya branded Mr Ramesh a “congenital liar”, insisting no official US statement on the call had yet been released and accusing Congress of circulating a January 2025 read-out to create confusion. BJP spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla added that the Congress was the “chief purveyor of fake news”.

Opposition doubts were not limited to the Congress. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said President Trump should publicly clarify—via social media—that the United States played no role in the cease-fire and retract his earlier mediation claims.