Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a \u201csevere setback\u201d to Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s \u201chighly personalised diplomacy\u201d and \u201cthe self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed\u201d.<\/p>\n
The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi\u2019s \u201ccowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel\u2019s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House\u201d.<\/p>\n
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India\u2019s global stature and standing,\u201d Ramesh claimed.<\/p>\n
PM Modi had said nothing about Israel\u2019s \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi\u2019s highly personalised diplomacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded \u2013 unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.<\/p>\n
That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi\u2019s strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe (Modi) or his team has also never explained why Op Sindoor was suddenly and abruptly halted on May 10th 2025 \u2013 the first announcement of which came from the US Secretary of State and for which the US President has claimed credit almost a hundred times since then,\u201d the Congress leader said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled,\u201d Ramesh said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel\u2019s belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House,\u201d the Congress leader added.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Trump swerved to de-escalate the war less than two hours before the deadline he set for Tehran to capitulate to a deal or face attacks on its bridges and power plants meant to destroy the Iranian civilisation.<\/p>\n
Trump made the dramatic announcement on Truth Social on Tuesday evening (US time) even as Democrats called for his removal over unhinged threats to wipe out the Iranian civilisation.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz,\u201d the US President said in a social media post.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council said it has accepted the ceasefire and that it would negotiate with the United States in Pakistan beginning Friday. Neither Iran nor the United States said when the ceasefire would begin, and attacks took place in Israel, Iran and across the Gulf region early Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Israel backed the US ceasefire with Iran but the deal doesn\u2019t cover fighting against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday. (Agencies)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Wednesday said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a \u201csevere setback\u201d to Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s \u201chighly personalised diplomacy\u201d and \u201cthe self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed\u201d. The opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi\u2019s \u201ccowardice is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n