Huge blow to Indian diplomacy and 'huglomacy': Congress on Trump-Munir lunch

The Congress has been taking swipes at Modi, giving "hugs" to foreign heads of state during his meetings with them at international or bilateral engagements, using the term "huglomacy" for it.

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday pounded on the Modi government as Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir for lunch, saying it is a "huge blow" to Indian diplomacy and the Prime Minister must contradict the claims made by the US president.

General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh posted on 'X', "Field Marshal Asim Munir is not the Head of State or Head of Government of Pakistan. He is the Chief of Army Staff. Yet he gets invited by President Trump for lunch and receives much praise."

"This is the same man whose atrocious and inflammatory remarks formed the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks orchestrated by the establishment over which he presides. It is a huge blow to Indian diplomacy (and huglomacy too)," he said

Congress Media and Publicity Department chairman Pawan Khera said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri issued a video statement listing details of telephonic conversation between Modi and Trump during which "a lot of things were discussed".

"Supposedly, Modi told Trump that we do not accept any mediation, and it is between India and Pakistan. He also said that the ceasefire was done bilaterally without any third party intervention. But, a few hours later, Trump again claimed that he had stopped a war between India and Pakistan. He made this statement on the very day he hosted Asim Munir. Hyphenating PM Modi to General Asim Munir is not at all accepted. PM Modi must come forward and contradict the claims made by Trump," he said.

Khera posted on 'X', "once again, Donald Trump has deflated the hype created by Modi-ji's PR machinery. What we were told through the Foreign Secretary about the contents of a telephone conversation has been publicly contradicted by Trump," he said.

"Is the word of our Prime Minister and our Ministry of External Affairs now so weak that they can’t even clearly present India's position in a half-hour call with the US President? When Trump hyphenated India and Pakistan, the government stayed silent. It was the opposition that objected. Now, Trump has hyphenated Modi and Munir — and again, the government remains mute. But the opposition will never accept this insult to the office of India’s Prime Minister," he said.

Khera said Trump is "making these claims himself, neither through officials, nor in private phone calls" and he is making them repeatedly and publicly. "It is the Prime Minister who must refute these claims -- and he must do so publicly," he added.