'Lacks maturity of a Leader of Opposition': BJP slams Rahul Gandhi over 'Narender, surrender' remark

Addressing a press conference at party headquarters in New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, "Rahul Gandhi lacks the seriousness and maturity which a Leader of Opposition must have. The way Rahul Gandhi compared the Indian Armed Forces' valour with surrender shows his mentality is dangerous.

"For all these days, Rahul Gandhi's words have been quoted in the Pakistani media and parliament. But for the first time Rahul Gandhi has said something which the Pakistan Army chief or any Pakistan-based terror organisation didn't even claim. Pakistan didn't claim India surrendered rather they narrated their own setbacks."

What did Rahul Gandhi say?

Addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal, Rahul Gandhi claimed India "surrendered" during last month's military conflict with Pakistan upon the direction of US President Donald Trump.

"Now I understand BJP-RSS very well. They get scared and run away under pressure like they did in front of Trump. Trump said, 'Modi-ji... what are you doing? Narender, surrender'. Narendra Modi-ji said 'ji huzoor' and acted as per Trump's command."

Rahul reminded the crowd about his grandmother and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's decision to go into the Liberation War with Pakistan in 1971 despite the US objections.

"You would remember the Seventh Fleet (from the US) came but Indira Gandhi went ahead with the war. This is the difference. It is their (BJP-RSS) character, all of them are like this. Since Independence, they have had this habit of writing 'surrender' letters."

Trump claims mediation role but India denies

In one of his recent addresses, US President Donald Trump said he stopped a potential nuclear war between hostile Asian neighbours India and Pakistan with trade despite New Delhi's repeated rejections of such claims made by Washington in the past.

Speaking to the press, Trump said he was proud of the fact that he could avert the war with trade and not bullets.

Trump said, "I think the deal I'm most proud of is the fact that we're dealing with India, we're dealing with Pakistan, and we were able to stop potentially a nuclear war through trade as opposed through bullets. You know, normally they do it through bullets.

"We do it through trade. So I'm very proud of that. Nobody talks about it. But we had a very nasty potential war going on between Pakistan and India. And now, if you look, they're doing fine."

'US was in the United States': Jaishankar junks Trump's India-Pak mediation claims

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar earlier said it was Pakistan that had reached out to India for a deal to cease the military conflicts, rubbishing Trump's claims that he had acted as a mediator.

Speaking to Netherlands-based broadcaster NOS, Jaishankar had said, "It was the Pakistani army which sent a message that they were ready to stop firing, and we responded accordingly."

Regarding Washington's involvement in the ceasefire, the minister said, "The US was in the United States."

"We made one thing very clear to everybody who spoke to us, not just the United States but to everyone, saying if the Pakistanis want to stop fighting, they need to tell us. We need to hear it from them. Their general has to call up our general and say this. And that is what happened," he added.

In a retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor hitting nine terrorist bases in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The military conflict escalated after Pakistan targeted civilians across the borders without any provocation to be aptly countered by the Indian military.