'What does Howdy Modi have to say': Congress jabs PM Modi after Trump repeats claims

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump repeating his claims that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan and that India has "largely stopped buying oil from Russia", as the opposition party asked "what does Howdy Modi have to say about all this".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the count of Trump repeating his statement that he stopped Operation Sindoor using trade and tariffs as leverage has touched 59.

"The TrumpTracker this morning has touched 59. He reiterates: 1. He stopped Operation Sindoor within 24 hours by using trade and tariffs as leverage 2. India has stopped buying oil from Russia largely.

"3. He speaks to Prime Minister Modi -- who wants him to visit India, which could be as soon as next year," Ramesh said on X.

"What does HowdyModi have to say about all this?" the Congress leader said.

In his remarks before the press, Trump reiterated his claim that he stopped the military conflict between India and Pakistan in May using trade.

"Of the eight wars I ended, I would say five or six were ended because of tariffs. I'll give you an example. If you take a look at India and Pakistan, they started to fight, they are two nuclear nations... They were shooting each other. Eight planes were shot down. It was seven. Now it is eight, because the one that was sort of shot down is now abandoned. Eight planes were shot down.

"And I said, 'Listen, if you guys are going to fight, I'm gonna put tariffs on you'. And they both went, you know, they were not happy about that. And within 24 hours, I settled the war. If I didn't have tariffs, I wouldn't have been able to settle that war," Trump said.

The president also termed tariffs a "great national defence".

In his remarks, Trump also said he could travel to India next year and noted that talks with New Delhi are "going good".

"It's great, going good. He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) stopped... Largely he stopped buying oil from Russia," Trump said at the Oval Office in response to a question on how talks with Modi and trade discussions with India are progressing.

"He's a friend of mine, and we speak... He wants me to go there. We'll figure that out. I'll go. I had a great trip there with Prime Minister Modi, he's a great man. And I'll be going," Trump said.

When asked if he is planning to go to India next year, Trump said, "It could be, yeah."

India will host leaders from Australia, Japan, and the United States for the Quad summit in New Delhi after the 2024 summit was held in Wilmington, Delaware.

However, the dates for the summit in India are yet to be announced.

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 several times that he helped settle the tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

India has consistently denied any third party intervention.

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.