PM has energy for foreign trips, can he not summon 'empathy' for visiting Manipur: Congress
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his three-nation tour, the Congress on Sunday said he has all the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm -- '3 Es' -- for such visits and asked can he not summon up a 4th E -- empathy -- for going to Manipur "where the people's suffering continues unabated".
The opposition party also said this is Modi's 35th trip abroad since May 2023 and it was "pathetic of the PM to treat Manipur in this awful manner".
"The Prime Minister leaves for Cyprus, Canada, and Croatia this morning. There was a time when he boasted about his knowledge of algebra by spouting the (a+b)^2 equation as applicable to India and Canada. But things went horribly wrong thereafter," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
"When it appeared that Canada was dragging its feet on the invite to India, Mr. Modi's drum beaters proclaimed that he would not go even if invited. But like always, he stands exposed," Ramesh claimed.
The Canadian prime minister has said that India has been invited to the G7 Summit along with a number of other non-G7 countries because India is the fifth largest economy in the world, Ramesh pointed out.
"Perhaps Mr. Modi can remind him that according to the Niti Aayog CEO, India became the world's third largest economy on May 24, 2025," the Congress leader said.
"This is Mr. Modi's 35th trip abroad since May 2023. He has all the energy, excitement, and enthusiasm--the 3 Es-- for such visits. But can he not summon up a 4th E--empathy-- for going to Manipur where the people's distress, agony and suffering continues unabated?" Ramesh said.
"He has met with NOBODY from the state, let alone political leaders, since May 3, 2023. Pathetic of the PM to treat Manipur in this awful manner," Ramesh added.
The Congress leader also shared a video clip of the PM from 2015 in which he is heard giving a mathematical analogy to demonstrate the relationship between the two countries.
The Congress has been attacking the prime minister for not visiting Manipur besides slamming the Centre for its handling of the situation in the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
More than 220 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kuki-Zo groups since May 2023.
Prime Minister Modi on Sunday morning embarked on a three-nation tour during which he will take part in the G7 Summit in Canada, and visit Cyprus and Croatia to shore up India's bilateral cooperation with these two countries.
Modi will first be in Cyprus at the invitation of the country's president, Nikos Christodoulides.
In the second leg of his visit, Prime Minister Modi will travel to Kananaskis in Canada on June 16-17 to participate in the G7 Summit at the invitation of Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney.
In the final leg of his tour, Modi will undertake an official visit to Croatia on June 18 at the invitation of the prime minister of the European country, Andrej Plenkovic.
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Trump administration says its war in Iran has been 'terminated' before 60-day deadline
Washington (AP): The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval.
The statement furthers an argument laid out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during testimony in the Senate earlier Thursday, when he said the ceasefire effectively paused the war. Under that rationale, the administration has not yet met the requirement mandated by a 1973 law to seek formal approval from Congress for military action that extends beyond 60 days.
A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's position, said for purposes of that law, “the hostilities that began on Saturday, Feb 28 have terminated.” The official said the US military and Iran have not exchanged fire since the two-week ceasefire that began April 7.
While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Navy is maintaining a blockade to prevent Iran's oil tankers from getting out to sea.
Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a president's military powers, President Donald Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorisation or cease fighting. The law also allows an administration to extend that deadline by 30 days.
Democrats have pushed the administration for formal approval of the Iran war, and the 60-day mark would likely have been a turning point for a swath of Republican lawmakers who backed temporary action against Tehran but insisted on congressional input for something longer.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” said Sen Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favour of a measure that would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn't given its approval. She added that “further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close."
Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the National Security Council during Trump's first term, said he has recommended to administration officials to simply transition to a new operation, which he suggested could be called “Epic Passage,” a sequel to Operation Epic Fury.
That new mission, he said, “would inherently be a mission of self-defence focused on reopening the strait while reserving the right to offensive action in support of restoring freedom of navigation.”
“That to me solves it all,” added Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Hegseth said it was the administration's “understanding” that the 60-day clock was on pause while the two countries were in a ceasefire.
Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program and an expert on war powers, said that interpretation would be a “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” related to the 1973 law.
“To be very, very clear and unambiguous, nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” she said.
Other presidents have argued that the military action they've taken was not intense enough or was too intermittent to qualify under the War Powers Resolution. But Trump's war in Iran would certainly not be such a case, Ebright said, adding that lawmakers need to push back against the administration on that kind of argument.
