'Trump missile' fired 24th time, PM must make statement in Parliament: Congress

With US President Donald Trump once again repeating his claims about the India-Pakistan conflict, the Congress on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should now himself make a clear and categorical statement in Parliament on the American leader's claims over the last 70 days.

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The opposition party's assertion came after Trump reportedly said, “We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan, that was going on. Planes were being shot down in the air. I think five jets were shot down, actually.”

“...But India and Pakistan were going at it, and they were back and forth, and it was getting bigger and bigger, and we got it solved through trade. We said, you guys want to make a trade deal. We're not making a trade deal if you're going to be throwing around weapons, and maybe nuclear weapons, both very powerful nuclear states,” the US President reportedly said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said just two days before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins, “the Trump missile gets fired” for the 24th time with the same two messages.

He pointed out that Trump has again stated that the US stopped the war between India and Pakistan, two countries that have nuclear weapons.

The US President also reiterated his remarks that there would be no trade deal if the war continued, he said.

Trump stated that if India and Pakistan want a trade agreement with the US, they have to agree to an immediate ceasefire, Ramesh pointed out.

"The sensational new revelation by President Trump this time around is that five jets may have been downed," Ramesh said.

"The prime minister, who has had years of friendship and huglomacy with President Trump going back to Howdy Modi in September 2019 and Namaste Trump in February 2020, has to now himself make a clear and categorical statement in Parliament on what President Trump has been claiming over the past 70 days," the Congress leader said.

The Congress has been demanding that Modi must answer President Trump's India-Pakistan "ceasefire" claims in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha during the forthcoming Monsoon session of Parliament.

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.

However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last month, Modi firmly stated that India does not and will "never accept" mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad's request.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.