‘Vishwaguru exposed’: Congress slams PM over Pakistan role in US-Iran ceasefire

New Delhi, Apr 8: Taking a swipe at the Centre, the Congress, on Wednesday, said the role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire between the US and Iran is a "severe setback" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "highly personalised diplomacy" and the "self-styled Vishwaguru" stands thoroughly exposed.

The Opposition party also said Prime Minister Modi's "cowardice is demonstrated by his silence not only on Israel's belligerence, but on the completely unacceptable and disgraceful language being used by his good friend in the White House".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh said the entire world will cautiously welcome the two-week ceasefire in the West Asia conflict between the US and Israel on the one side and Iran on the other.

"The role played by Pakistan in bringing about the ceasefire is a severe setback to both the substance and style of Mr Modi's highly personalised diplomacy," he said.

The policy to isolate Pakistan for its continuing support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and to convince the world that it is a failed state has clearly not succeeded unlike what Manmohan Singh had accomplished after the Mumbai terror attacks, Ramesh claimed.

That a bankrupt economy dependent entirely on the largesse of external donors and a broken country in so many ways was able to play such a role calls into question Modi's strategy of engagement and narrative management, he said.

"There is a palpable sigh of relief everywhere. The External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) dismissed Pakistan as a dalal. But now the self-styled Vishwaguru stands thoroughly exposed, his self-declared 56-inch chest shrunk and shrivelled," Ramesh said.

PM Modi had said nothing about Israel's "genocide" in Gaza and its aggressively expansionist policies in the occupied West Bank, Ramesh said.

"The conflict had begun on February 28th with the targeted assassinations of the topmost echelons of the regime in Iran. These had started just two days after Prime Minister Modi had completed his much-trumpeted visit to Israel, a visit that diminished India's global stature and standing," Ramesh claimed.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed "western powers" for speaking in a "despicable language" on the Iran conflict and said the world understands as the "veil of morality falls" from the face of the West.

US President Donald Trump pulled back on his threats to launch devastating strikes on Iran late Tuesday, as the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

PTI