Congress takes 'Sindoor ka Sauda' jab at PM Modi, cites Trump's claims on mediation

Pawan Khera, AICC Media and Publicity Department Chairman. (PTI)

The Congress party on Monday alleged that the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi "traded Sindoor" for peace with Pakistan while the Foreign Minister remained silent on it.

Addressing the media in New Delhi earlier today, AICC Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera reiterated the party's charge against External Affairs minister S Jaishankar, questioning him over his remarks that India has informed Pakistan about striking terror camps at the start of Operation Sindoor.

Citing the claims by US President Donald Trump of mediation in the India-Pakistan conflict, Khera asked the Foreign Minister to come clean on whether US threatened to stop trade with India if it did not stop its military offensive against Pakistan.

"Our leader Rahul Gandhi has asked some questions on the statement of the Foreign Minister. This becomes very important because in the last one week, US President Donald Trump has been repeating in different countries that he mediated to stop the war.

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Congress (@INCIndia) May 19, 2025

"Trump also said a very horrifying thing that he stopped the war by threatening India to stop trade. Sindoor ka sauda hota raha aur Pradhan Mantri chup rahe," Khera said.

He also referred to party MP Rahul Gandhi's allegations that the actions by the government, when seen in the context of Jaishankar's remarks, resulted in losses for our armed forces and also gave Pakistan an edge over India with prior knowledge.

"We do not know what secrets America and China have about PM Modi, Foreign Minister and BJP leaders, because they never open their mouth in front of America and China. Whenever their mouth opens, it opens directly to give a clean chit. We don't care about the secrets they might have of yours, but why is it harming the country?

"Why will justice not be served for the Pahalgam attack, because you are afraid of China and America. The entire country and the world knows what China's role was in this war and America itself is boasting about its role in stopping this war, but Jaishankar ji does not open his mouth," he added.

Notably, S Jaishankar had on Thursday said, “At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan saying we are striking at terrorists’ infrastructure. We are not striking at the military. So the military has an option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice.”

The minister was referring to Director General of Military Operation Lt General Rajiv Ghai’s call to his Pakistani counterpart Major General Kashif Abdullah in the aftermath of nine Pak-based terror infrastructures being hit in the May 7 precision strikes.

Later, ANI quoted the MEA’s External Publicity Division’s explanation of the conflicted development: “EAM Dr S. Jaishankar had stated that we had warned Pakistan at the start, which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement.”

Operation Sindoor was the name given to India's military strike on nine terrorist bases in PoK and Pakistan. The name struck an emotional chord as it came in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 where 26 civilians, all male, were killed in front of their families after terrorists ascertained their identities. Among those killed were some newly married individuals and the operation was thus named Sindoor as vengeance on behalf of the widowed women.

The Congress's "Sindoor ka Sauda" remark is an allegation that the Indian government under PM Modi traded the halt of Operation Sindoor for the sake of trade with the United States.

This isn't the first time that the Congress has used slurs to level serious allegations against the Prime Minister. In 2007, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had referred to Modi, then Gujarat CM, as "Maut ka Saudagar" while referring to his alleged role in the Gujarat riots in 2002.