New Delhi, March 29 The Congress on Sunday alleged that Pakistan becoming a "broker" is a reflection of the "colossal failure" of the Modi government's foreign policy, diplomatic engagement, and narrative management following India's striking military success in Operation Sindoor.
The opposition party also said the "unravelling" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's heavily "personality-driven" foreign policy has exposed "the self-styled Vishwaguru as a Vishwaphoney".
The Congress' attack came after the government on March 25 told an all-party meeting on the West Asia situation that there is nothing new in Pakistan's mediation efforts in the matter as that country has been "used" by the US since 1981.
"We are not a broker nation," Jaishankar is said to have told the attendees of the meeting convened at the Parliament complex.
In a post on X on Sunday, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, "It is a country where democracy is a farce to be reckoned with. It is a country whose economy is a basket case, dependent on a lifeline extended by the IMF and few other donors like China and Saudi Arabia. It is a country that has for decades been known as a haven for terrorists who perpetrate attacks not only on its neighbours but in different parts of the world."
"It is a country that was dealt with very strictly by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden. Now, after having been isolated following its terror offensive in Mumbai in Nov 2008, Pakistan has acquired a new acceptance," he said.
"That Pakistan has become - in the words of the learned Dr. S. Jaishankar - a 'dalaal' is a reflection of the colossal failure of the Modi government's foreign policy, diplomatic engagement and narrative management following India's striking military success in Operation Sindoor," the Congress leader said.
"Undoubtedly, President (Donald) Trump (Mr. Modi's 'good friend') has contributed heavily to Pakistan's current respectability," he said.
Ramesh asked why and how did the PM allow it to happen, even as he boasted of his special relationship with the White House -- with the Howdy Modi event in Houston in September 2019 and the Namaste Trump event in Ahmedabad in February 2020.
He claimed that the PM has tried to appease the US in various ways.
Even his betrayal of India's farmers via the trade deal that gave the US unprecedented access to Indian agriculture markets has not been able to help him gain any diplomatic leverage with the US, Ramesh said and added that Modi is only seen as a "pliant pushover".
The prime minister claims to be having telephonic conversations with leaders all over the world, he said.
"It is certainly good that he is doing so. But the unravelling of his heavily personality-driven foreign policy has exposed the self-styled Vishwaguru as a Vishwaphoney," Ramesh said.
Pakistan is hosting a quadrilateral summit of foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye on Sunday, to discuss the ongoing conflict in West Asia and efforts to negotiate peace.
Pakistan on Thursday said that it was actively and constructively engaged with all stakeholders in the region and beyond to peacefully end the Iran war.
During a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif discussed the conflict in West Asia and condemned the continued Israeli attacks on Tehran.
During their detailed conversation that lasted over an hour, the two leaders held extensive discussions regarding the ongoing hostilities in the region and peace efforts, a statement by the Pakistan Prime Minister's Office said.
The Congress last week took a dig at the Modi government over its "dalaal nation" reference to Pakistan's mediation in the West Asia conflict, saying "the self-styled Vishwaguru's" diplomacy and narrative failures have turned a "broken country into a broker country".
Ramesh had said the dapper and long-experienced Jaishankar is doing his best to cover up India's "extreme embarrassment" and the setback to its regional diplomacy from Pakistan's emergence as a mediator and facilitator of talks to end the current war in West Asia.
The Congress leader had said that Pakistan can even be so considered for a mediating role is the most damning indictment of both the substance and style of PM Modi's diplomacy, which has been "full of bombast and marked by cowardice".