Will PM clarify? Congress on Putin aide claiming ‘India–Pak conflict stopped with Trump’s participation’

The Congress on Thursday, 5 June, asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify on a claim made by a Russian president's aide that the recent conflict between India and Pakistan figured during a phone call between Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump and that the hostilities were "stopped with the personal participation" of the American leader.

During their conversation on Wednesday, 4 June, Trump and Putin discussed Ukraine and also touched on some other issues, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told a briefing.

"They also touched upon the Middle East and the armed conflict between India and Pakistan, which was stopped with the personal participation of President Trump," Ushakov was quoted as saying by Russia's state-run TASS news agency.

Ushakov, however, did not share the details.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "President Putin's aide Yury Ushakov has just revealed that the 4-day India-Pakistan conflict came up in the 75-minute telephonic conversation of President Putin and President Trump on June 4th."

"Mr Ushakov has let it be known that it was the personal involvement of President Trump that halted the armed hostilities between India and Pakistan. Will the PM @narendramodi clarify?" Ramesh asked.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he was the one who stopped India and Pakistan from fighting.

However, India has been maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was arrived at following direct talks between the directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of the two countries.

Congress leader Ashok Gehlot too demanded a response from the Narendra Modi government on the India–Pakistan ceasefire.

Gehlot demanded clarity on what he called "unanswered questions hanging over national security."

In a post on X, he said, "The BJP president J.P. Nadda must understand Rahul Gandhi is only asking what every Indian wants to know: The country didn't lose, the army didn't lose, so why did our government appear to surrender?"

The former Rajasthan chief minister alleged that the ceasefire had been announced at a time when Indian forces were gaining ground under Operation Sindoor, which raised suspicions of international pressure, particularly from Trump.

"Why did the Indian government suddenly announce a ceasefire just minutes after Trump tweeted about one… Why has there been no official response denying or confirming if the decision was influenced by such foreign pressure?" he asked.

"If Trump was misrepresenting facts, why didn't our prime minister speak up to set the record straight?" Gehlot said.

He said that despite a national outrage over the April 22 Pahalgam carnage and the army's consequent retaliation, the public remains in the dark on several fronts.

"Why have the terrorists behind this heinous act not yet been brought to justice?" he said.

Gehlot claimed that the timing of the ceasefire undermined national morale. "The army was pushing forward, the nation was united, and the opposition stood with the government. So why did the Centre retreat from action so suddenly, without explanation?"

He slammed those who tried to shut down questions on what transpired before the ceasefire, by saying, "Every citizen has the right to ask — who made this decision, on what conditions and in whose interest? The government owes the people answers, not silence."

Based on PTI inputs