Daijiworld Media Network - Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur, Aug 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “immediately stopped India’s action against terror camps in Pakistan” after being directed by then US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, during his ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, Gandhi’s remarks came just hours after Trump once again reiterated his claim of brokering peace between India and Pakistan during a military standoff in May.
Quoting Trump’s latest statement, Gandhi said, “Trump said today that when the war between India and Pakistan was going on, he called Narendra Modi and told him to stop everything within 24 hours. Modi stopped everything in five hours, not 24 hours.”
Trump, in a cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, had claimed he personally intervened to prevent a nuclear escalation between the two neighbours. According to him, he threatened both New Delhi and Islamabad with high tariffs and suspension of trade deals unless they agreed to a ceasefire.
“I said, ‘you are going to have a nuclear war.’ I told them, ‘we are not going to do any deals with you, or we will put tariffs on you that are so high. Within five hours, it was done,’” Trump said. He further claimed he would stop any future conflict as well.
India, however, has consistently denied any third-party role in the ceasefire. Prime Minister Modi has told Parliament that no country asked India to halt Operation Sindoor, while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has categorically maintained that the understanding on cessation of hostilities was reached directly between the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGsMO) of India and Pakistan.
Trump’s fresh claims came just before new 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods were set to take effect on August 27. Since May 10, when he first announced that Washington had mediated a “full and immediate” ceasefire, Trump has repeated over 40 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission (EC), accusing them of “vote theft”.
“The Gujarat model is about ‘vote chori’. The BJP wins elections by stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission,” Gandhi alleged. He further claimed that 65 lakh voters’ names were deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls and demanded an explanation from the EC.
“We will continue to provide evidence on how votes were stolen in assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The EC must explain why names of 65 lakh voters were deleted,” Gandhi said.