Mumbai, Jun 20 (PTI) US President Donald Trump has broken protocol of more than 150 years by hosting a country’s Army Chief for lunch, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said on Friday, terming the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy as “weak”.
Earlier this week, Trump hosted Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who is not the Head of State or Head of government of Pakistan, for lunch. The opposition Congress has since attacked the Modi government, terming the development as a “huge blow” to Indian diplomacy.
Talking to PTI Videos, Chavan said, “The US has broken its protocol of more than 150 years by inviting the army general of a country for lunch. One can understand if the heads of the states are invited for lunch. In the past, we have seen Ayub Khan and Pervez Musharraf (army chiefs who also served as Pakistan’s presidents) being invited, but they were the heads of the country.” He said Trump hosting Munir for lunch shows how seriously the Pakistan Army Chief is being taken and what power he holds in the neighbouring country.
The former Union minister slammed the BJP-led government for its “weak” foreign policy.
It is a failure of foreign policy when the US invites the Pakistan Army Chief after a conflict with India, he said, referring to Operation Sindoor.
“One cannot ignore the US. The Pakistan Army Chief getting an invitation means they are developing closer ties with the US. This is not good for India. If another conflict breaks out between India and Pakistan in the future, the US will come out in support of Pakistan and may also supply weapons,” Chavan said.
The senior Congress leader also raised questions about PM Modi’s leadership.
“Is India safe under the leadership of PM Modi? The way things are happening, it doesn’t feel so. He had to beg to get invited to the G7 summit, and now Munir is getting invited by the US… It is a total failure of the Modi government’s foreign policy. We also don’t have any stand on the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel,” he said. PTI PS ARU
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