New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was put on the mat by the Opposition in Parliament on Tuesday with the latter insisting that he should personally nail US President Donald Trump’s lie on Kashmir dispute.
Trump had made a televised claim that PM Modi had requested him to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir.
The Opposition created a ruckus and walked out in protest over PM Modi's absence in Parliament. Finally, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had to allay misgivings by asserting "categorically" that no such request was made.
In a strong-worded tweet, Congress President Rahul Gandhi latched onto the row and slammed PM Modi for betraying India's interests and the Shimla Agreement.
He added: "A weak foreign ministry denial won't do. PM must tell the nation what transpired in the meeting between him & @POTUS."
The Rajya Sabha was thrice adjourned with shouts of "shame, shame" until Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad led the walkout in the afternoon, regretting that neither the Prime Minister responded to the demand for his appearance, nor did anyone tell him that it was his responsibility to nail Trump's lie.
Even before the two Houses met, Azad told a press conference, along with leaders of all opposition parties, that "we are ready to trust our Prime Minister but he should come to the House and state that Trump is lying; this will put at rest fears of any change in the foreign policy decision on no third party intervention in all outstanding issues with Pakistan."
"Had Trump told a leader of some other country and not Pakistan Premier Imran Khan, we would have assumed he said so in zest. But it stands to reason that he must have spoken after due thought, since he knows how serious are India-Pakistan relations," Azad said.
Before the first adjournment, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu was pleading before agitated Opposition members, asking them to sit down in "national interest," and not to send wrong signals of "not believing our government."
"Do you have more trust in the US President than our prime minister and the External Affairs Minister," he asked after the latter's reply, noting that Jaishankar was himself present in the meeting of Trump and Modi on the sidelines of G-20 summit in Osaka.
