Congress questioned whether PM Modi would address Donald Trump’s repeated claims of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire and the steep hike in H-1B visa fees, or limit his speech to the revised GST rates.
Trump announced a USD 100,000 one-time fee for new H-1B visa petitions and reiterated that he ended multiple conflicts, including between India and Pakistan, by leveraging trade—claims India has consistently denied.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Sunday evening, the Congress launched an attack, asking whether he would respond to US President Donald Trump’s recent claims of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire and address the anxiety of lakhs of Indian H-1B visa holders, or simply reiterate details on the revised GST rates.
The Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Modi will speak at 5:00 PM but did not disclose the subject of his address. The speech coincides with the eve of Navratri and comes just before new GST rates take effect, reducing prices on a wide range of products.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, in a post on X, said, "As the PM prepares to address the nation, his good friend in Washington DC has once again stolen his thunder and claimed -- for the 42nd time - that he stopped Operation Sindoor by using increased trade with America as leverage."
He added that Trump has made these assertions in the US as well as in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UK.
Ramesh went on to ask, "Will the PM address these claims and speak of the increasingly fraught Indo-US relationship? Will he address the concerns of lakhs of Indian H1B holders? Will he provide some assurances to the crores of farmers and workers who stand to lose their livelihood due to his good friend's tariffs? Or will he just repeat what we all know on the new GST rates - worked out under desperation and which become effective tomorrow?"
Meanwhile, Trump has announced a sharp hike in the H-1B visa fee, raising it to USD 100,000. The US administration later clarified that the increase would apply only as a one-time fee for new petitions, leaving current visa holders unaffected.
Trump also reiterated his claims of having ended multiple international conflicts, including between India and Pakistan, through trade diplomacy, even suggesting he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for “ending seven wars.”
On May 10, he declared that India and Pakistan had agreed to a full ceasefire after US-mediated talks—an assertion India has consistently rejected, maintaining that the understanding was reached directly between the two militaries’ Directors General of Military Operations.
At an event on Saturday, Trump said, "On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before. We are forging peace agreements, and we are stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia."
He further added, "Think of India and Pakistan. Think of that. And you know how I stopped that -- with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders. But when you take a look at all of these wars that we've stopped. Just look at that. India, Pakistan, Thailand, Cambodia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade."
Trump also said, "Like with India, I said, 'look, we're not going to do any trade if you're going to fight and they have nuclear weapons. They stopped."
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, striking targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The conflict ended on May 10 after four days of drone and missile exchanges, with India maintaining that the cessation of hostilities was achieved through direct military-to-military dialogue, not third-party mediation.
(with PTI inputs)
