Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, accusing him of prioritizing personal praise over engaging in critical policy discussions—particularly in response to former US President Donald Trump’s claims regarding a ceasefire and tariffs.
“Our Prime Minister does not want to hear about tariffs; our Prime Minister only wants to hear tareef (praise),” Ramesh remarked, criticizing Modi’s silence over Trump’s repeated assertions that he played a key role in brokering a ceasefire using tariff threats.
“Trump has claimed, eight times in 11 days across the US, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, that he engineered the ceasefire by pressuring both sides with tariffs. And yet, our Prime Minister and Foreign Minister remain completely silent,” Ramesh said.
He further questioned Trump’s comment equating India and Pakistan’s positions, calling it a diplomatic slight. “Trump has said that he put India and Pakistan in the same boat. How is that acceptable when India’s economy is ten times that of Pakistan’s?” he asked.
Ramesh also slammed Modi for ignoring calls for an all-party meeting and a special Parliament session on national security following the Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. He accused the government of being more interested in political optics than addressing pressing national concerns.
“It is being heard that a special session may be called on June 25–26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. Since 2014, we’ve been living under an undeclared Emergency. Instead of addressing today’s security issues, they want to talk about something that happened 50 years ago,” Ramesh said.
He criticized the Modi government for focusing more on targeting the Congress than on fighting terrorism. “The missiles being launched daily are against Congress, not Pakistan or the terrorists. We demand action against terrorism, not political vendetta,” he stated.
Ramesh noted that letters were sent by Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on May 10 requesting a special session to reaffirm the 1994 resolution on PoK and national unity, but the government failed to respond meaningfully.
“The issue of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the growing China-Pakistan nexus, and our national security deserve a serious debate and a united resolution in Parliament. But this government continues to remain silent,” he concluded.
