US President Donald Trump, after hosting a luncheon in honour of Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, again claimed that it was he who stopped the India-Pakistan conflict, but also gave credit to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Asim Munir, describing them as “two smart leaders”.
Asked what he wanted to achieve from meeting Munir, Trump told reporters: “Well, I stopped a war … I love Pakistan. I think Modi is a fantastic man. I spoke to him last night. We’re going to make a trade deal with Modi of India.. But I stopped the war between Pakistan and India. This man (Munir) was extremely influential in stopping it from the Pakistan side, Modi from the India side and others.” Trump said, “They were going at it – and they’re both nuclear countries. I got it stopped.”
Trump said: “The reason I had him (Asim Munir) here, I want to thank him for not going into the war, ending the war. And I want to thank, as you know, Prime Minister Modi just left a little while ago, and we’re working on a trade deal with India. We’re working on a trade deal with Pakistan……They were both here, but I was with Modi a few weeks ago. He was here actually, but now we speak to him. And I’m so happy that two smart people, plus you know, people on their staff too, but two smart people, two very smart people decided not to keep going with that war. That could have been a nuclear war. Those are two nuclear powers, big ones, big, big nuclear powers, and they decided.”
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Trump hosted Munir after he called for the president to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
Hours earlier, Modi told Trump in their 35-minute phone call that the cessation of military action took place only after talks between Indian and Pakistani militaries and not through U.S. mediation, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, said. This was the first direct exchange between Modi and Trump since the Indian-Pakistan conflict between May 7 and 10.
“PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-U.S. trade deal or U.S. mediation between India and Pakistan,” Misri said. “Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do.”
Trump asked Modi if he could stop by the U.S. on his return from Canada, but, according to Misri, Modi expressed his inability to do so because of his scheduled visit to Croatia.
Trump is, after all, Trump. Nobody can predict when he will change his tune, but Prime Minister Modi has, in his phone call to Trump, clearly raised the curtain of secrecy on what transpired before the cessation of firing and military action. Trump had been consistently claiming that he brought about ceasefire after putting pressure on both countries on trade deal issues.
Modi told Trump clearly there was no talk at any stage on India-U.S. trade deal or U.S. mediation between India and Pakistan. Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Modi also told Trump, India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do so in future.
Why is Congress upset over what Modi told Trump? By speaking directly to Trump over phone on how the ceasefire took place, Prime Minister Modi has taken the wind out of the Congress’s sails.
Congress had been spreading the narrative that Modi “surrendered” to pressures from the US. Congress leaders had been targeting Modi without any rhyme or reason. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh showed a six-month-old readout from the White House to prove our Foreign Secretary wrong. The readout was dated January 27 this year and it had nothing to do with latest phone call between Modi and Trump. In fact, the White House did not issue any readout of the phone conversation. This is a clear case of misleading people by spreading fake news.
It would have been better if the Congress had stayed silent after Modi-Trump phone call. Congress had in the beginning questioned Modi’s silence over the Pahalgam attack, and when Modi spoke, called it “an election gimmick”. Congress first said, why Modi was not teaching Pakistan a lesson, and when our armed forces carried out attacks, Congress said, war is not the solution.
Rahul Gandhi went to the extent of spreading the narrative that Pakistan downed some of our jet fighter planes. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge described Operation Sindoor as a minor skirmish. Our armed forces showed digital evidence of how controlled, precise attacks were carried out deep inside Pakistan to destroy terror headquarters and air bases. It was because of this that Pakistan started nudging the US to help in bringing about a ceasefire.
Rahul Gandhi and his team are unwilling to accept this. They are only pointing towards Trump’s claims, whereas Prime Minister Modi’s reply to Trump over phone was precise and controlled.
It was made amply clear that India did not bow to pressures from the US. Our armed forces stopped military action when it realized that our objective was achieved. This was the reason why the Pakistan army DGMO’s request for cessation of firing and military action was accepted.
India’s focus during Operation Sindoor was to destroy the terror infrastructure and their masterminds inside Pakistan. Pakistan’s history of abetting terrorism is well known and America knows it very well. The US knew where Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was hiding and which country was secretly providing him shelter.
American records show how Pakistani terrorists were involved in the 1993 World Trade Tower attack, in 9/11 terror attacks and in Times Square bombing. In all these attacks, Pakistani terrorists were involved and were indicted. America is itself the victim of Pakistani terrorism, but today, America needs Pakistan’s cooperation, in view of the ongoing escalation of war against Iran.
Will Trump use Munir for plan to attack Iran ?
Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir may be basking in the glow of a luncheon meeting with President Donald Trump, but he is facing some harsh realities in the US too. At a hotel where he was addressing Overseas Pakistanis, there was slogan-shouting by protesters who described him as a mass murderer. On Wednesday, when Munir strolled at a mall in Washington, he had seven security personnel escorting him, but there were more than 700 Pakistanis present, who had come from different cities of the US. These protesters described him as a killer, renegade and the man who robbed Pakistan of its democracy.
Never before had a Pakistani army chief faced such protests on foreign soil. One Pakistani journalist alleged that Munir’s family members and close associates have invested millions in a cryptocurrency company in which Trump family has holdings, and this could be the reason why he was invited to lunch by the US President. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Barrister Shehzad Akbar said, Asim Munir first kowtowed leaders in Pakistan to reach the army chief’s chair, and he was now doing the same to Trump to perpetuate his control on power. Shehzad Akbar said, Asim Munir will now do everything that Trump would tell him to do.
There is not an iota of doubt that Asim Munir was the mastermind behind the barbaric Pahalgam attack in which innocent tourists were brutally killed because of their religion. He does not deserve any honour.
But one should realize, how India can decide which leader should be invited to the White House for lunch or dinner? Will Jairam Ramesh tell Donald Trump why he did not issue a statement? Will Sanjay Raut persuade Donald Trump to withdraw his words. These are all ridiculous matters. Neither can anybody put a leash on Donald Trump’s claims, nor can any outsider decide the guest list at the White House.
One question that will be asked is, why Trump invited Munir to lunch? Trump is presently spending much of his time on how to target Iran, which has a nearly 1,000 kilometre long border with Pakistan. For launching any major military operation against Iran, the US army may need airbases and air space in Pakistan. There are reports that spy planes are ready for action inside Pakistani air space, and are gathering intelligence from across the Iran border.
Trump hosted luncheon for Asim Munir to get Pakistan’s assistance. Now can anybody stop him from inviting Munir? America has to get its work done and if it cajoles Pakistan by inviting its military chief, who can stop the US President? In the past, the US had used Pakistan to drive out the Soviet army from Afghanistan.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaza Asif had admitted two months ago in a TV interview, “we have been doing this dirty work for the US for the past three decades, including the West and the United Kingdom.” However, he called it a “mistake” and said Pakistan “suffered because of that.” Former Pakistan dictator Pervez Musharraf provided all logistics help to the US army when it deposed Taliban in Afghanistan after 9/11 attack. The country is still facing the consequences.
What can one do if Pakistan again agrees to help the US in its war against Iran?