Trump compared India with Pakistan, PM Modi with Shehbaz Sharif: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress criticised US President Donald Trump for equating India and Pakistan while claiming to have "successfully brokered" a "ceasefire" between the two countries. The party also objected to Trump comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif.

Pawan Khera, head of the Congress' media and publicity department, shared a video clip of Trump’s recent remarks during an event in Saudi Arabia.

"US president says it again: 'I used trade to make a deal between them, and they agreed'. Not only is Donald Trump hyphenating India with Pakistan, he is comparing Prime Minister Modi with Shehbaz Sharif," Khera wrote in the caption. He questioned whether such a comparison was acceptable to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Praveen Chakravarty, chairman of the Professionals' Congress and Data Analytics Department, took a swipe at the government, saying, "'Pakistan's prime minister and India's prime minister are equal. Pakistan and India are equal powers'. Who is saying this? Prime Minister Modi's 'good friend' President Trump."

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also commented on the remarks, sharing the video on X and saying, "This narrative wasn't part of the syllabus."

Speaking at a Saudi-US investment forum in Riyadh, Trump repeated his claim that his administration had prevented escalating violence between the South Asian neighbours.

"As I said in my inaugural address, my greatest hope is to be a peacemaker and to be a unifier. I don't like war. We have the greatest military, by the way, in the history of the world," Trump said.

"Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan," he added. "And I used trade to a large extent to do it. And I said, 'Fellows, come on. Let's make a deal. Let's do some trading'," Trump told the audience, which included billionaire Elon Musk.

"'Let's not trade nuclear missiles. Let's trade the things that you make so beautifully.' And they both have very powerful leaders, very strong leaders, good leaders, smart leaders. And it all stopped. Hopefully, it'll remain that way, but it all stopped," he said.

Earlier, Trump had also claimed that his administration stopped a "nuclear conflict" between India and Pakistan by offering enhanced trade opportunities if the two sides ended hostilities.

India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on May 10 after four days of intense drone and missile exchanges across the border. However, Indian officials in New Delhi clarified that the ceasefire resulted from direct communication between the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of both countries, with no third-party involvement.

Trump, however, declared that India and Pakistan agreed to a "full and immediate ceasefire" after a night of talks "mediated by the United States".

Later, in a post on Truth Social, he offered to help find a "solution" on Kashmir and credited Washington for the "historic and heroic decision" to end the conflict.

India maintains that the Kashmir issue is strictly bilateral and that there is no room for third-party mediation. It also asserts that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of the country.
(With PTI inputs)