NEW DELHI: The phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, in which PM Modi shared details about the ceasefire with Pakistan and Operation Sindoor, has emerged as the newest point of political conflict between the Congress and the BJP.While Congress criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that India has faced a “triple jhatka” in foreign policy and diplomacy, the BJP called Congress the “biggest cultivator of fake news.” Referring to the recent phone call between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir, whose comments are linked to the Pahalgam terror attacks, has been invited for a one-on-one lunch with President Trump. “Understand the ‘triple jhatka’ that the Indian foreign policy and diplomacy has received. Today (Pakistan’s) Field Marshal Asim Munir, whose provocative, incendiary, and inflammatory comments are directly linked to the Pahalgam terror attacks. He is today invited for a one-on-one special lunch with President Trump. This is a setback for Indian diplomacy. We are quiet about it, we have not objected to it”, Ramesh said while talking to the news agency ANI. He also pointed to recent remarks made by General Michael Kurilla, head of the US Central Command, who referred to Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counter-terrorism. Ramesh said this contrasts with India’s view of Pakistan. “Second, General Michael Kurilla, who is the head of the US Central Command, says that Pakistan is a phenomenal partner in counter-terrorism. We are saying Pakistan is a phenomenal perpetrator…Third, from May 10 onwards, 14 times President Trump has been claiming that he mediated a ceasefire (between India and Pakistan), he used trade as an instrument, he put Pakistan and India together”, he added.“This is triple jhatka to Howdy Modi by Namaste Trump! Indian diplomacy is being shattered and the PM is totally silent,” Ramesh said in a post on X. Ramesh repeated the opposition’s demand for a special Parliament session. He said the Prime Minister should make the same statements in Parliament that were shared in the official readout of the 35-minute phone call with Trump by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. “PM was silent. This was not countered (Trump’s claim). Today, we are told that he had a 35-minute phone call with President Trump, and he said many of the things that the Foreign Secretary has given a readout…Say the same thing in Parliament. Call a special session of Parliament…Call an all-party meeting tomorrow…and say the same things that you have supposedly told President Trump on the phone…We want a debate in Parliament, we want a constructive debate, we want an all-party meeting. We want to show unity and solidarity”, Ramesh said.

BJP hits back

Meanwhile, the BJP strongly hit back at Congress and Ramesh, calling the Congress leader “a congenital liar”.“Jairam Ramesh is a congenital liar — much like Rahul Gandhi,” BJP’s Amit Malviya said in a post on X.“The Congress and its troll army simply can’t digest the fact that Prime Minister Modi told President Trump in clear terms — India neither needs nor accepts any third-party mediation,” Malviya added.BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also criticised the Congress, describing it as the “biggest supplier, spreader and cultivator” of fake news.“Congress relishes in descending into ‘Bharat virodh’ just because it does ‘BJP virodh’… Sena ka apman, Pakistan ka gungan seems to have become Congress ki only pehchaan,” Poonawalla said while talking to news agency ANI.“… Congress is the biggest supplier, spreader and cultivator of fake news,” he added.