Congress’s ‘huglomacy in deep freeze’ dig at Modi govt after Marco Rubio repeats India-Pakistan claim

What did Marco Rubio say?

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House Tuesday, Marco Rubio said for the first time in decades, American foreign policy was guided solely by whether it made the US “safer, stronger and more prosperous”.

“If it is, he’s (Trump) for it. If it doesn’t, he’s against it. And that sort of clarity is transformational,” he said.

“Not to mention all the other peace deals, very dangerous ones like India and Pakistan or Cambodia and Thailand, and so on… Mr President, I think you deserve tremendous credit for the transformational aspect of our foreign policy,” Rubio said.

Earlier, at the Cabinet meeting, Donald Trump reiterated his claim that he had resolved several global conflicts, including that between India and Pakistan, as he asserted that he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize for each of the “eight wars” he has ended.

“We ended eight wars… But we’re going to do one more, I think, I hope,” the Republican president said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that within the first eight-nine months of his second term in the White House, he resolved conflicts between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Rwanda and Congo. He also credits himself for resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Trump will host Congo President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and Rwanda President Paul Kagame to sign a “historic peace and economic agreement” brokered by the US president.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.

Congress takes dig at Modi govt

“On May 10, 2025, at 5:37 PM, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the first person to announce the abrupt stoppage of Operation Sindoor. Subsequently, President Trump himself has made the claim at least 61 times in 6 different countries that it was due to his intervention that Operation Sindoor was halted. Now Mr. Rubio has once again reminded the world of what Mr. Trump has been saying repeatedly,” Jairam Ramesh posted on X.

“No wonder the Modi-Trump huglomacy is in deep freeze,” he added.

Earlier on November 20, the Congress MP had said the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission was a “severe setback” for diplomacy, as the report described the Pahalgam terror attack as an “insurgent attack” and hinted at Pakistan’s success over India during Operation Sindoor.

In an X post, Ramesh targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing the report as “astonishing and beyond understanding” while asking the External Affairs Ministry to register a protest against it.

(With inputs from PTI)