'PM invested heavily in his friendship with Trump': Congress questions Modi's foreign policy

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday took a “TOP versus CAP” swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the US President was continuing to pile it on India.

"Prime Minister Modi once spoke of the TOP (Tomato, Onion, Potato) challenge in prices.  Now, India has to contend with the political challenge arising out of CAP (China, America, Pakistan). He invested very heavily in his personal friendship with President Trump, as he had done earlier with President Xi. Both have the full measure of the man now — someone who can be managed easily by playing to his gigantic ego and self-obsession," Jairam said.

He said President Trump is piling it on India and since May 10, he has claimed 30 times that he stopped Operation Sindoor.

"These claims were made in four different countries. On June 18, he hosted the Pakistan Army Chief and the orchestrator of the Pahalgam terror attacks for lunch at the White House. On July 30th, he imposed a 25% tariff on US imports from India plus a penalty on India's oil and defence purchases from Russia. In addition, sanctions on at least six Indian companies were imposed for engaging with Iran," said Jairam.

He flagged the latest Trump move of announcement that the US would help Pakistan explore and develop its oil (and gas) reserves.

"This comes on top of his full-throated support to Pakistan receiving financial assistance from the World Bank and the IMF," the Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha said.