'PM wants tareef, not talks on tariffs': Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slams PM Modi over US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire claims

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining silent on the US President Donald Trump Administration Defending Tariffs in a US Court. He accused Prime Minister Modi of ignoring the matter because he preferred praise over critical discussions about economic policies.

“Our Prime Minister does not want to hear about tariffs; our Prime Minister only wants to hear ‘Tareef’ (praise). So, the PM is silent on this. The Prime Minister has not said anything,” he added. Ramesh said that Trump had claimed credit for the ceasefire on multiple international platforms, but the Indian leadership chose to stay quiet.

“President Trump has said 8 times in 11 days in 3 countries, America, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, that this ceasefire has happened because of me, and I have used tariffs and told both the countries that if you get the ceasefire done, then international trade will increase,” Ramesh stated.

Ramesh also questioned the silence of India’s top leadership, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. “Our foreign minister is silent on this, our Prime Minister is completely silent,” he said. The Congress leader expressed strong objection to Trump’s remark that India and Pakistan had been placed “in the same boat.”

“He has clearly said that I have put India and Pakistan in the same boat. India’s economy has increased 10 times in comparison to Pakistan’s economy, but both of them have come in the same boat. How can this happen?” Ramesh asked.

Meanwhile, Jairam Ramesh also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not responding to repeated calls for an all-party meeting and a special Parliament session on the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

He accused the Prime Minister of ignoring urgent national issues and instead focusing on marking the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. “It is being heard that a special session can be called on 25th and 26th June because it is the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. Undeclared Emergency has been in force in our country since 2014. He wants to call a special session for what happened 50 years ago. To divert attention from today’s questions, they are talking about it. We will also expose the role of RSS, we will put the reality in front of the whole country…These terrorists of Pahalgam were involved in four attacks, and still, they are roaming around here and there. Our MPs are roaming, and terrorists are also roaming. We are asking these questions seriously. They do not answer these questions. The BJP only targets the Congress party. Their attack is on the Congress party; it should be on the terrorists. Action should be taken against Pakistan. The terrorists should be arrested. The missiles that are being launched every day are being launched against the Congress party,” Ramesh said.

“We demanded that there should be an all-party meeting and the Prime Minister should preside over it. Two meetings have been held. It was a formality. The Defence Minister chaired it. Nothing came out of it; no discussion took place. The questions we asked were asked in a constructive, serious, and sensitive manner, but there was no response to that. The atmosphere was one of unity and cohesion. On May 10, both Kharge ji and Rahul ji wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to call a special session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Why should it be called? So that we can repeat the special resolution that was passed unanimously on February 22, 1994, regarding PoK, regarding the issue of terrorism. In the last 30 years, both countries have become nuclear countries, and more than that, the role of China has become deep in Pakistan; it is also a challenge for us. So there should be a debate on this. And a resolution should be passed unanimously so that the message of a collective resolution is given to the world. He is silent on this, too,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI)