‘If PM says something … ‘: Rahul Gandhi says Modi unable to refute Trump’s ceasefire claims; dares him to call US President ‘liar’ | India News

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday stepped up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump‘s repeated attempts for claiming credit for brokering a peace deal between India and Pakistan.While talking to reporters outside Parliament complex, Rahul said that PM Modi is unable refute Trump’s claim because the US President will then speak openly and reveal the entire truth.“Because the truth is, if the PM says something, then he (Donald Trump) will have to speak openly and reveal the entire truth – that is why he (PM Modi) is unable to speak,” Rahul said.“Why is he (Trump) saying that? Because he wants his trade deal, so he’ll put pressure on PM Modi there. Just watch how the trade deal turns out,” he added.Rahul’s remarks came as external affairs minister S Jaishankar, in the Rajya Sabha, refuted the claims made by Trump and said that not a single phone call took place between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi.” “I want to tell him — he should listen carefully. From April 22 to June 16, not a single phone call took place between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi,” Jaishankar said.Just a day earlier, during the Operation Sindoor debate in Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accused the PM Modi- led government of using the military operation to protect the Prime Minister’s image. He further challenged PM Modi to call Trump a “liar” in Parliament, over the latter’s repeated claims of using trade leverage to end the India-Pakistan conflict.“If Narendra Modi has even 50 per cent of the courage of Indira Gandhi, he should declare in the House that Trump is lying about the ceasefire,” Rahul Gandhi said.Meanwhile, Trump, in his most recent comments on India, mentioned the anticipated trade deal between the US and India.While answering questions on high tariffs imposed by India, Trump said, “Yeah, I think so. India is my friend. They ended the war with Pakistan at my request. The deal with India is not finalised.” “India has been a good friend, but India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country,” he added.