The Congress on Thursday lashed out at the Union government following United States President Donald Trump’s decision to host Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for lunch at the White House, describing the gesture as a “huge blow to Indian diplomacy”.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said, “Field Marshal Asim Munir is not the Head of State or Head of Government of Pakistan and is the Chief of Army Staff, yet he gets invited by Trump for lunch and receives much praise.”
“This is the same man whose atrocious and inflammatory remarks formed the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks orchestrated by the establishment over which he presides,” Ramesh posted on X.
“It is a huge blow to Indian diplomacy (and huglomacy too),” he added, taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s practice of embracing foreign leaders during diplomatic engagements—a gesture often described by critics as “huglomacy”.
President Trump, who hosted Munir at the White House on Wednesday, told reporters in the Oval Office that he was “honoured” to meet the Pakistani general and, for the first time in weeks, refrained from taking credit for halting military hostilities between India and Pakistan.
“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,” Trump said.
“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,” he added, referring to Modi and Munir.
Also read: Modi declines Trump’s US invite, calls him to India for Quad
The conflict between India and Pakistan escalated following the 22 April terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26. India responded with Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan-occupied territory. The military action was paused on 10 May after backchannel communication with Islamabad.
While India has firmly rejected third-party mediation, Trump has repeatedly claimed he played a key role in preventing the escalation. Congress, however, has said the Prime Minister’s “PR machinery” has now been “deflated”.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “Once again, Donald Trump has deflated the hype created by Modi ji's PR machinery.”
“What we were told through the Foreign Secretary about the contents of a telephone conversation has been publicly contradicted by Trump,” he added, referring to a 35-minute call between Modi and Trump earlier this week during the Prime Minister’s visit to Canada.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had said the Prime Minister conveyed that India paused its strikes after a request from Islamabad, and not because of any American mediation or promise of a trade deal.
“Is the word of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs now so weak that they can't even clearly present India's position in a half-hour call with the US President?” Khera asked.
“When Trump hyphenated India and Pakistan, the government stayed silent. It was the opposition that objected,” he said.
“Now, Trump has hyphenated Modi and (Pakistan Army chief Asim) Munir – and again, the government remains mute. But the opposition will never accept this insult to the office of India’s Prime Minister,” Khera said.
“It is the Prime Minister who must refute these claims, and he must do so publicly,” he asserted.
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