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‘What sort of friendship is this?’: Congress targets PM Modi after Trump praises Pak's Asim Munir, Shehbaz Sharif
At a summit in Egypt, Trump praised Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir and described him as his “favourite field marshal”
The Congress on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government after US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir and gave “special" treatment to PM Shehbaz Sharif during the Gaza peace summit in Egypt.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, asked what kind of signal the American leader is sending to India as he highlighted that Modi and Trump keep calling each other as good friends.
"But what sort of friendship is this? President Trump hosted Field Marshal Asim Munir to an unprecedented lunch in the White House on June 18, 2025. This was the Field Marshal whose inflammatory and communally poisonous remarks provided the backdrop to the Pahalgam terror attacks orchestrated by Pakistan on April 22, 2025," Ramesh said on X.
"Now in Egypt yesterday, President Trump calls Asim Munir as 'my favourite Field Marshal' and gives special place to the PM of Pakistan. What kind of signal is President Trump sending to India, in spite of Mr. Modi's desperate attempts to ingratiate himself with the US President?" Ramesh added.
During the Middle East peace summit in Egypt on Monday, Trump praised Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir, whom he described as his “favourite field marshal”. He then turned to Sharif, who was standing behind him on stage, asking him to come forward and speak in the middle of his own speech.
Sharif then heaped praises on Trump, calling him “a man of peace” and emphasising that Pakistan had nominated the US President for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
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“I would say that Pakistan had nominated President Donald Trump for Nobel Peace Prize for his outstanding, extraordinary contributions, first to stop war between India and Pakistan and then achieve ceasefire along with his very wonderful team,” Sharif said and went on to reiterate Trump’s repeated claims that he stopped hostilities between India and Pakistan in May.
Later, Trump also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the stage, calling him a “very good friend of mine”."India is a great country with a very good friend of mine at the top, and he has done a fantastic job," the US President said.
India has repeatedly dismissed Trump’s claims about brokering a ceasefire with Pakistan. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri had said at the time that Modi told Trump during the phone call that the decision by India and Pakistan to halt military actions was made directly during talks between the armies of the two sides and without any mediation by the US.
