Congress asks if PM has accepted US mediation on Kashmir, stopped ops against Pakistan for trade

New Delhi | The Congress on Monday demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on US President Donald Trump's claims, made minutes before the prime minister addressed the nation, asking if the operation against Pakistan was stopped due to trade obligations and whether he had accepted American mediation on Kashmir.

The Congress also reiterated its demand for a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and the cessation of military action against Pakistan on US mediation, asserting that a collective resolve from Parliament was the need of the hour.

Asserting that India would not tolerate any "nuclear blackmail", Modi on Monday said operations against Pakistan had only been kept in abeyance and the future would depend on the neighbouring country's behaviour.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, "The prime minister, his drumbeaters, and his apologists should answer."

"The prime minister's much-delayed address to the nation was completely upstaged by President Trump's revelations a few minutes earlier. The prime minister was completely silent on them. Has India agreed to US mediation? Has India agreed to a 'neutral site' for a dialogue with Pakistan? Will India now give in on US demands for opening Indian markets in autos, agriculture, and other areas?" Ramesh asked.

Trump on Monday reiterated his claim that his administration stopped a "nuclear conflict" between India and Pakistan, telling the south Asian neighbours that the US would do a "lot of trade" with them if they ended the hostilities.

Ramesh, a former Union minister, said Modi should immediately have a meeting with leaders of all political parties -- something he had studiously avoided in the last 20 days.

"The months ahead will demand both painstaking diplomacy and a collective resolve. One-liners and dialogue-baazi are poor substitutes," he asserted.

"We applaud and salute our armed forces unreservedly. They have done the country proud. We are 100 per cent with them at all times. But the prime minister has still much to answer for," Ramesh said.

Congress media department in-charge Pawan Khera noted Trump's statement came a few minutes before the prime minister's address and called it "very disturbing".

He said no Indian would accept what Trump said and "we expected that the prime minister would clarify and respond".

"We need a clarification from the government of India on whether this operation was stopped due to trade," Khera said, noting that India did not trade with "sindoor" and it was not possible to do trade with "sindoor".

"We want to know on what terms mediation was done. Why did you not respond to what Donald Trump said on Kashmir? There are several questions in the minds of the country and there is a need for a collective resolve. There were two opportunities and two such all-party meetings were held but unfortunately the prime minister did not attend," the Congress leader said.

"We again demand that there should be a special session of Parliament and there should be a collective resolve from all. Only the prime minister can create such a collective resolve. There will obviously be no sensitive issues discussed in that, but political issues will be raised," he added.

There is a need to know what the nation gained and what it lost. This question remains to be answered, Khera asserted.

Asked if the Congress was dissatisfied with the prime minister's address, he said, "We are all satisfied in view of the armed forces action and we salute them but we have to discuss politically with the prime minister and there are several questions to be asked."

These questions can be answered only through a collective discussion and a collective resolve would emerge and that collective resolve is the need of the hour, he stressed.

Khera also said there had been several governments in the past and all of them attempted to de-hyphenate India and Pakistan as the two countries could not be equated.

"But, in the last few days, India and Pakistan have been equated and hyphenated by America and this is what we object to," the Congress leader said.

"In the eyes of the entire world, the US has hyphenated India and Pakistan. We have strong objections to that," he added.

In his first address to the nation after Operation Sindoor, Modi said that while Pakistan pleaded with India to stop the military offensive, New Delhi considered it only after it promised to stop its misadventure.

The prime minister termed the Pahalgam attack the most "barbaric face of terrorism", saying it was a personal pain for him but the enemy had realised the consequences of removing "sindoor from the foreheads of our women".

The prime minister also said Operation Sindoor was not just a name but, through it, the entire world saw India's resolve turn into action and more than 100 dreaded terrorists were slaughtered.

"India will not tolerate any nuclear blackmail. We have only kept in abeyance our operations against Pakistan, the future will depend on their behaviour. Operation Sindoor is now India's new policy against terrorism, a new line has been drawn," he said.