Congress condemns Modi over new US National Security Strategy report

Taking a swipe at the Centre over the new US National Security Strategy, the Congress on Saturday said it marks a notable shift in the American approach to Pakistan and avoids the explicit criticism seen in the 2017 Donald Trump-era strategy document, which had openly accused Islamabad of supporting militants targeting US partners.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said this is mentioned in the 33-page National Security Strategy document recently released by the White House. He shared screenshots of the document, which also refers to Trump’s recent claims about stopping the India-Pakistan conflict in May this year.

The opposition party pointed out that the document reiterates US President Donald Trump’s claim that he settled the “raging conflict” between India and Pakistan.

“In his introduction to the document, President Trump reiterates his claim that he ‘settled the raging conflict between India and Pakistan’. The same claim is repeated on Page 8,” Ramesh said.

He added on social media that the 2025 National Security Strategy “marks a notable shift in the US approach to Pakistan”.

“It avoids the explicit criticism that defined the 2017 Trump-era strategy document, which openly accused Pakistan of supporting militants targeting US partners, demanded stronger counterterrorism action and pressed Islamabad to demonstrate responsible management of its nuclear arsenal. The new strategy omits any such references,” Ramesh said.

“Kya se kya ho gaya, bewafa teri dosti mein,” he added in Hindi, taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi while quoting the opening line of the song from the 1965 Hindi film Guide. Ramesh also shared the White House website link to the document.

The National Security Strategy released by the Trump administration late Thursday stresses strong cooperation with India to address the security challenge in the South China Sea.

The Trump administration has said the US must continue to improve commercial and other relations with India to encourage New Delhi to contribute to Indo-Pacific security, including through continued cooperation within the Quad grouping.

The document also mentions the eight wars that Trump claims he has resolved, including the May conflict between India and Pakistan.