Congress leader Salman Khurshid debunks Trump’s claim, praises Indian restraint, but back home, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera still stuck on the wrong questions
On 31st May, Congress veteran and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told the Indian community in Jakarta exactly what had happened, Pakistan called India asking for ceasefire. Simple, clear and settled. Yet, back home, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera continue to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why the ceasefire happened and whether Donald Trump played a role. There is a contradiction within Congress which is not just glaring but embarrassing.
What Salman Khurshid said in Jakarta
Khurshid is part of one of the Modi government’s all-party international delegations formed after Operation Sindoor. In his address, he plainly stated that India did not initiate any talks with Pakistan. Instead, it was Pakistan’s DGMO who reached out, unable to withstand further military pressure.
He said, “There is no truth to claims that we called Pakistan. That is complete hogwash.” He dismissed the narratives that suggest India blinked first. Khurshid elaborated that Pakistan was unable to cope with India’s onslaught during Operation Sindoor and reached out for a halt. India, in a show of maturity and power, chose to stop further attacks.
Khurshid also drew attention to the fact that Pakistan continued to violate ceasefire for hours even after the call from Pakistan to halt the escalating situation. He underlined how little control the civilian government in Islamabad has over its own military. He observed, “No one is in control in Pakistan. There are factions in the army vying for power. Despite that, India showed patience and restraint.”
Khurshid’s message was clear. The members of the delegation, irrespective of the political lines, are speaking as one. They are speaking on behalf of their country against the enemy nation. Khurshid said, “India is waiting to be great and no one will distract us.”
But what is Congress doing back home?
Khurshid’s clarity, however, appears lost on his colleagues back in India. Congress’s communication chief Jairam Ramesh has posted eleven times in 21 days on social media, demanding that PM Modi clarify whether Trump’s repeated claims of brokering the ceasefire are true.
He frames the issue as one of national embarrassment, accusing PM Modi of silence, allowing Trump to “equate” India with Pakistan, and wondering if Trump is lying or telling half-truths. Another Congress leader, Pawan Khera, has joined the chorus and expressed concerns over PM Modi’s silence. He asked whether PM Modi’s failure to reject Trump’s comments means they might be true.
Khera asked, “This is the eighth time Trump has claimed he stopped Operation Sindoor. Why is Modi silent?”, a week ago. Perhaps, the real question is, why are Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera silent on Salman Khurshid’s very public, on-record clarification?
Does the Congress not believe its own leaders?
Khurshid, while speaking in Indonesia as a representative of India, left no room for doubt. Pakistan reached out, India accepted, this is what he has clarified. He called alternative versions “nonsense”. He categorically made it clear that India’s response was strong, decisive, and respected internationally. He, despite being an opposition leader, praised the government’s formation of an all-party team as a symbol of national unity, which some of his party leaders and other opposition leaders are not able to digest.
If the Congress party sees this as India’s stand, why are senior Congress leaders undermining it at home?
The question that should be asked is if Ramesh and Khera trust Khurshid or not. Or are they so eager to oppose PM Modi that they are willing to contradict their own party’s foreign outreach, their own former External Affairs Minister, and a sitting member of the delegation tasked with explaining Operation Sindoor to the world.
This cannot be a minor miscommunication. This is not a footnote. This is the official position of the Congress campaign at home, which is entirely different from what a Congress leader has said abroad.
A moment of truth
Operation Sindoor was India’s moment of assertion against state-sponsored terror. India reacted strongly to the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed lives of 26 innocent Hindus. The world took note of the military action India took. Pakistan, being Pakistan, tried to set a narrative against India, claiming Pahalgam was a false flag operation. Reacting to the propaganda, India created seven all-party delegations and dispatched them to carry India’s message. Khurshid, Shashi Tharoor, Asaduddin Owaisi and many other opposition leaders are part of these delegations going from country to country with their fellow MPs from the ruling party, BJP.
While Khurshid played his part and remained above politics, back home, his party colleagues continue to shoot rhetorical arrows in the dark. They are chasing ghosts of Trump’s imagination and attributing foreign influence on India’s sovereign military action.
The Congress has to answer. Which Congress should the people of India believe? The one that stood with the Indian flag in Jakarta, or the one that cannot stop questioning the Government in Delhi?
India deserves clarity. The world is watching. And in this case, Salman Khurshid already said what needed to be said. Everything else, as he rightly called it, is nonsense.
News