No wonder his good friend in New Delhi does not want to hug him: Cong's dig at PM Modi
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump repeating his claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan using trade, and said "no wonder" the American leader's good friend in New Delhi "does not want to hug him any more".
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a video clip of Trump's remarks in Japan in which he repeated his claim that he stopped the India-Pakistan military conflict using trade.
"So far he has said it 54 times. He has said it in the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UK. He has said it mid-flight and on land. Now President Trump has said it again, while addressing business leaders in Japan last evening," Ramesh said on X.
"No wonder his good friend in New Delhi does not want to hug him any more," the Congress leader said.
In his remarks in Japan on Tuesday, Trump reiterated that he ended the India-Pakistan military conflict.
"A lot of the wars that I stopped were because of tariffs. And, frankly, I did a great service to the world because of tariffs, because of trade. If you look at India and Pakistan, they were going at it.
"Seven planes were shot down. Seven brand-new, beautiful planes were shot down, and they were going at it, two big nuclear powers. I said to Prime Minister Modi, and I said to the prime minister and the Field Marshal over in Pakistan, I said that we're not going to do any trade if you're going to be fighting," Trump said.
"(They said) 'no, no, one thing has nothing to do with the other' and I said it has a lot to do with the other. We said we are not doing any deals if you are going to fight and in about 24 hours that was the end of that, it was amazing," the US president said, referring to the stopping of the India-Pakistan conflict in May.
Last month, in his address to world leaders from the UN podium, Trump had repeated his claim that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two militaries.
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2nd WT20I: Shafali, spin trio do star turns in India''s seven-wicket win
Visakhapatnam (PTI): Shafali Verma hit a blistering unbeaten 69 as India made short work of a paltry target to outclass Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Women’s T20 International here on Tuesday.
India now lead the five-match series 2-0 after another one-sided victory, having restricted Sri Lanka to a modest 128 for 9 through a collective display of disciplined bowling from the spin trio of seasoned Sneh Rana, ably complemented by young spinners Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
During the chase, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (14) fell cheaply but Shafali, enjoying new found confidence after a stellar show in the World Cup final, sent the bowlers on a leather-hunt during her 34-ball knock, winning it for her team in just 11.5 overs.
The hosts have now completed back-to-back successful chases within 15 overs which speaks volumes about the unit's sky-high confidence.
Shafali's innings had 11 punchy boundaries apart from a maximum.
The floodgates opened when left-arm spinner Inoka Ranaweera bowled a few flighted deliveries and Shafali would step out everytime to hit her over extra cover. Her footwork against slow bowlers was immaculate whether stepping out to loft the ball or rocking back to punch or pull.
Seeing her confidence, the newly appointed Delhi Capitals skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 15 balls) also attacked as the duo added 58 runs in just 4.3 overs.
By the time Rodrigues was out trying to hit one six too many, the match as a contest was over. Shafali completed her half-century off just 27 balls and completed the formalities in a jiffy.
Earlier, off-spinner Rana, who got a look-in after Deepti Sharma was ruled out due to fever, showed her utility keeping the Lankan batters under tight leash with figures of 1 for 11 in 4 overs, including a maiden which certainly is a rarity in T20 cricket.
Charani, who made an impression during India's ODI World Cup triumph, took 2 for 23 in her quota of overs, while Vaishnavi after an impressive debut in the opening encounter, finished with 2 for 32, not letting the Islanders get easy runs in her second spell.
The last six wickets fell for just 24 runs, but what stood out during India’s bowling effort was their superb ground fielding. After a patchy show in the previous game, the improved sharpness in the field resulted in three run-outs.
Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu (31 off 24 balls) looked in good nick as she deposited length deliveries from seamers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy over the ropes but it was Rana, who kept her quiet by repeatedly pitching on good length.
Unable to manoeuvre the strike and with the big hits suddenly drying up, Athapaththu chanced her arm at another delivery in which Rana had shortened the length slightly.
Not having transferred the weight into the lofted shot, Athapaththu's hoick was pouched cleanly by Amanjot Kaur at long-off.
This was after Athapaththu's opening partner Vishmi Gunaratne (1) had offered a simple return catch to Gaud.
Hasini Perera (22 off 28 balls) and Harshitha Samarawickrama (33 off 32 balls) did stitch a stand of 44 but they could never set the tempo against the Indian spin troika.
Once Hasini offered a tame return catch off a Charani full-toss, Sri Lankans never recovered and lost wickets in a heap towards the end.
