New Delhi:
Rahul Gandhi took a fresh sarcastic swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday, declaring the PM had ‘surrendered’ during last month’s military conflict with Pakistan – i.e., Operation Sindoor, the 100 hours of missiles and air strikes – after United States President Donald Trump‘s ‘order’ to do so.
The BJP hit back swiftly; party spokesperson Tuhin Sinha told NDTV the remark showed Mr Gandhi “represents Pakistan’s ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence)” and is “misleading” the people.
Earlier, at an event in Bhopal, Mr Gandhi had declared, “A call came from (Donald) Trump and Narendraji immediately surrendered… history is witness to this. This is the character of the BJP and RSS (referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ruling party’s ideological mentor).”
“Narendraji followed Trump saying ‘Narender, surrender’ by saying ‘yes, sir’,” Mr Gandhi jibed.
ट्रंप का एक फोन आया और नरेंद्र जी तुरंत surrender हो गए – इतिहास गवाह है, यही BJP-RSS का character है, ये हमेशा झुकते हैं।
भारत ने 1971 में अमेरिका की धमकी के बावजूद पाकिस्तान को तोड़ा था। कांग्रेस के बब्बर शेर और शेरनियां Superpowers से लड़ते हैं, कभी झुकते नहीं। pic.twitter.com/RhdQWdRBtV
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 3, 2025
He then referred to the 1971 India-Pakistan war, which resulted in Bangladesh’s liberation and was fought when the Congress was in power, and said, “India broke Pakistan in 1971 despite threat of America. Lions and lionesses of Congress fight against superpowers and never bow down.”
“I am well aware of the BJP and RSS people. Apply a little pressure… and they run away in fear.”
Trump’s Ceasefire Claims
US President Trump has repeatedly claimed his administration played a key role in brokering a cessation of hostilities between India and Pak in May. Despite India firmly saying Trump had played no such role, the US President insisted he “sure as hell” helped and repeated his claim in a US court.
READ | Trump’s Team Cite “Fragile” India-Pak Ceasefire To Justify Tariffs
India had warned Pak against retaliating to those strikes, making it clear that only terrorist camps and bases would be targeted. Pak, however, chose to ignore the warning and countered by firing armed drones and missiles at military and civilian centres in western India.
The missiles and drones were disabled by India’s air defence system, and India launched counter-strikes of its own. Missiles and air strikes pounded both sides of the border for the next four days, till May 10, when Trump claimed he had negotiated a ceasefire.
Hours later India confirmed the ceasefire, but made it clear that it was Pakistan that had reached out to end hostilities and that there had been no pressure from the US, whether diplomatic or to do with ongoing talks over a trade deal with that country.
