NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday ramped up his attack on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying that India’s foreign policy has “collapsed” and questioned US President Trump’s role in ‘mediating’ between the two South Asian neighbours.
This comes a day after Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having compromised with India’s honour.
On Friday, Gandhi tagged a post by the Congress which carried a video clip of Jaishankar answering questions on the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent tensions between India and Pakistan, during an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS: “Will JJ explain: Why has India been hyphenated with Pakistan? Why didn’t a single country back us in condemning Pakistan? Who asked Trump to ‘mediate’ between India & Pakistan?” Gandhi said.
“India’s foreign policy has collapsed,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, hiting out at the Centre.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s comments, the BJP on Friday launched a scathing attack at the Congress MP, asking him to stop “undermining” the Indian Armed Forces’ valour and “jeopardising” the country’s security by making “irresponsible remarks” about Operation Sindoor.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused the Congress leader of carrying forward the “agenda of countries inimical to India”. He said Gandhi’s remarks on the India-Pakistan conflict were being used by Islamabad to “defame” India.
Gandhi on Thursday had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of having compromised with India’s prestige and asked him why he sacrificed the nation’s interests by agreeing to halting of military hostilities against Pakistan.
“Modi ji, stop giving hollow speeches. Just tell: Why did you believe Pakistan’s statement on terrorism? Why did you sacrifice India’s interests by bowing to Trump? Why does your blood boil only in front of cameras? You have compromised with the prestige of India!,” he had said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, the BJP lashed out at Gandhi over his remarks that India’s foreign policy had “collapsed” and asked him if the joint statement issued by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart in Sharm el Sheikh after the 2008 Mumbai attack, that Pakistan was also a terror-victim, was the Congress’ idea of foreign policy.
Op Sindoor exposed Pak as terror-sponsor
Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that Operation Sindoor, initiated by Indian Armed Forces in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack, exposed Pakistan as the sponsor of terrorism in India as they responded by launching an offensive against “our civil population and military installations”. Shah said the Indian Armed Forces had initially hit terror bases in Pakistan; however, the Pakistan Army responded by trying to attack civilians and Army installations in India.