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How Congress reacted to Trump-Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir lunch meet in US: ‘The same man whose…’
The Congress criticized the Indian government after Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir for lunch, calling it a setback for Indian diplomacy.
The Congress on Thursday attacked the government after US President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir for lunch, calling it is a "huge blow" to Indian diplomacy.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, "Field Marshal Asim Munir is neither the head of state of any country nor the head of any government. He is the army chief of Pakistan. Despite this, President Trump invited him to lunch at the White House and praised him profusely."
He added, “This is the same man whose provocative and objectionable statements were the backdrop of the barbaric terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 – carried out by the same military machinery that he himself heads. This is a big setback for Indian diplomacy (hug diplomacy too)!”
Jairam Ramesh's comments come after Donald Trump hosted Asim Munir for lunch and stated that he was honoured to meet him.
During a press briefing in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said the leaders of India and Pakistan had decided not to continue a war that could have turned nuclear. He notably did not claim credit for stopping the hostilities between the two countries.
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Since May 10, after India and Pakistan decided to stop the military conflict, Trump has repeatedly claimed on multiple occasions that he helped settle tensions between the two countries by offering a trade deal to India and Pakistan.
"The reason I had him here, I want to thank him for not going into the war, ending the war. And I want to thank, as you know, Prime Minister Modi just left a little while ago, and we're working on a trade deal with India. We're working on a trade deal with Pakistan," the US president said.
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"They were both here, but I was with Modi a few weeks ago. He was here actually, but now we speak to him. And I'm so happy that two smart people, plus you know, people on their staff too, but two smart people, two very smart people decided not to keep going with that war. That could have been a nuclear war. Those are two nuclear powers, big ones, big, big nuclear powers, and they decided that," he added.
Trump also stated that he had discussed the conflict between Iran and Israel with Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir.
He said, “Well, they know Iran very well, better than most, and they're not happy about anything. It's not that they're bad with Israel. They know them both, actually, but they probably, maybe they know Iran better, but they see what's going on, and he agreed with me.”
