New Delhi

The Congress on Friday launched a sharp attack on the Centre, alleging that the “romance” between the United States and Pakistan continues unchecked while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preoccupied with optics and rhetoric on the global stage.

The opposition party’s remarks came a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended an event of the Board of Peace in Washington along with leaders from other countries associated with the organisation led by former US President Donald Trump.

At the event, Trump repeated Sharif’s assertion that he had saved 25 million lives by stopping a war between India and Pakistan. Sharif, in turn, described Trump as a man of peace and a “saviour of South Asia”.

Reacting to the developments, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the bonhomie between Washington and Islamabad remained undiminished.

“The romance between the US and Pakistan continues unabated. It was on display yet again in Washington DC yesterday,” Ramesh said in a post on X.

He added that Pakistan had paid “no price whatsoever on the world stage” for what he alleged was its role in orchestrating the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22, 2025.

“This is a depressing commentary on the Modi government’s diplomacy, which no amount of spin-doctoring can erase. It is all too evident,” the Congress leader said.

Ramesh also took aim at the Prime Minister personally, saying that the “self-declared Vishwaguru” was busy giving the world “gyaan” through acronyms and symbolic gestures.

“Meanwhile, the self-declared Vishwaguru is busy giving the world gyaan through his acronyms and forcing CEOs to hold his hand to demonstrate their solidarity with him,” he said.

“This is MODI governance – Maximum Optics Damaging India,” Ramesh added.

Trump on Thursday reiterated his claim that he had threatened to impose 200 per cent tariffs on both India and Pakistan last summer if they did not stop fighting, asserting once again that he had played a decisive role in ending hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

He also repeated his assertion that he had stopped eight wars within the first year of his second term in the White House while addressing the Board of Peace event in Washington.

India, however, has consistently rejected any suggestion of third-party intervention in its bilateral issues with Pakistan.

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During his remarks, Trump said he liked Sharif as well as Pakistan’s Field Marshal and Chief of Defence Forces Asim Munir, whom he described as a “great guy”.