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New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “refusing to unequivocally” deny US President Donald Trump’s India-Pakistan ceasefire claims that have been made “30 times” as he is on a “very weak wicket and has much to cover up”.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Modi cannot state that Trump is lying about his role in bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan as if he does so, the American leader will lay bare the truth.

The opposition party took a swipe at Prime Minister Modi after Trump repeated his claim about playing a role in bringing about a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, saying the American leader is coiled around the PM “like a snake” and “hissing bitter truths” into his ear.

Asked about Trump’s latest remarks repeating his claims and that India is preparing to face higher US tariffs between 20 and 25 per cent, Gandhi said, “It is obvious, the prime minister has not said that Trump is lying. It is obvious what has happened. Everyone knows, he is not able to say it. That is the reality.”

“If the prime minister says it then he (Trump) will say openly and will lay bear the truth so that is why the PM is not able to say anything,” the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Gandhi said Trump is making the remarks to put pressure on the Indian government for the trade deal.

“Now, you see what kind of trade deal happens,” he told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the PM doesn’t have the guts to tell Trump that he is lying and it seems that “daal mein kuch kala hai (there is something fishy)”.

“Our policy has been that we have never accepted any sort of mediation by a third party in negotiations and it is unacceptable to us even today. Why did they agree, what were the reasons, they should tell the country,” Kharge told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

“He (Modi) did not even take Trump’s name even once in his two-hour speech. Modi ji doesn’t have the courage to say that ‘Trump is lying and we shall not tolerate such nonsense’. They don’t have the courage to say this. He should have condemned Trump’s remarks and said that he is trying to distort the image of the country,” Kharge said.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday on Air Force One on his way back to Washington from Scotland, Trump repeated the claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan.

Tagging a video of Trump’s latest remarks, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, “This is President Trump yet again – After the PM’s intervention yesterday in the Lok Sabha where he deflected and diverted the main issue.”

“Why is the PM simply refusing to unequivocally and categorically deny what his good friend Donald Trump has now said 30 times in the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UK? The answer is clear. Mr. Narendra Modi is on a very weak wicket and has much to cover up,” Ramesh said on X.

Asked about Trump repeating his claims, Priyanka Gandhi said, “If you hear the words used by the prime minister and the external affairs minister carefully, they are vague. They should say it directly. Rahul ji said yesterday also, he (Modi) should say that the US president is lying. He should say it in Parliament.”

Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, “Trump is coiled around Modi like a snake. And yesterday, Rahul Gandhi handed him the perfect chance to wriggle out of the mess. Just say Trump was lying about the ceasefire.”

“Simple, right? But no. Modi is allergic to taking Rahul ji’s advice. And voila, today the snake is back, coiled tighter than ever, hissing bitter truths into Modi’s ear,” Khera said on X.

Asked about reports that India is preparing to face higher US tariffs between 20-25 per cent, Trump on Tuesday replied, “Ya, I think so.”

Trump described Prime Minister Modi as a friend.

“And you know, they ended the war with Pakistan at my request, and that was great. And Pakistan did also…we did a lot of, a lot of great settlements, including the recent one, as you know, with Cambodia,” Trump said.

He again repeated the claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan.

In a no-holds-barred attack in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had dared Prime Minister Modi to categorically rebut US President Trump’s India-Pakistan ceasefire claims.

“If Modi ji has even 50 per cent of the courage that Indira Gandhi had, then clearly he must say in Parliament — Donald Trump is lying,” he had said.

Modi, who spoke after Gandhi, affirmed that no leader of any country asked India to stop Operation Sindoor but lamented that while the nation got support from the entire world, the Congress and its allies could not stand behind the valour of the nation’s soldiers.

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim on several occasions that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.

However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.