A tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating the Indian cricket team for winning the Asia Cup T20 tournament – leading with a reference to Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the Pahalgam terror attack – drew a barbed counter from the Congress’ Pawan Khera Monday evening.
Khera told the Prime Minister “it is not right to compare a cricket match to a battlefield”.
“… (but) if you have made the comparison anyway, then you need to learn from the team. When you are close to victory, good captains do not cease fire on the orders of any third umpire,” he declared, dragging on the pitch the Congress’ attacks on the BJP over cessation of hostilities with Pakistan.
Khera was responding to a post by the Prime Minister that said “#OperationSindoor on the games field. Outcome is the same – India wins! Congrats to our cricketers.”
Since the India-Pak Operation Sindoor ceasefire on May 10 – announced by United States President Donald Trump on X – the Congress has criticised the BJP over Trump’s repeated credit grabs; on May 16 he told reporters “I sure as hell helped settle the problem between India and Pak…”
The claims – they were repeated this month when Trump met the United Kingdom Prime Minister, Keir Starmer – were made despite India firmly stating the ceasefire was at Pakistan’s request.
Pointing furiously to Trump’s many declarations, the Congress accused PM Modi and the BJP of having kow-towed to the American leader’s ‘demands’ at a time when Pak was on the ropes.
प्रधानमंत्री जी, पहली बात तो एक क्रिकेट मैच की तुलना युद्ध के मैदान से करना ठीक नहीं है।
दूसरी बात, अगर आपने तुलना कर ही दी तो आपको भारतीय टीम से यह सीखने की ज़रूरत है कि जब जीत के करीब हों, तो किसी थर्ड अंपायर के कहने पर अच्छे कप्तान सीज़फायर नहीं करते। pic.twitter.com/JpHV0xsMHF
— Pawan Khera 🇮🇳 (@Pawankhera) September 29, 2025
One such instance was the Congress’ Jairam Ramesh hitting out after Air Chief Marshal AP Singh confirming Pak had lost six military aircraft, including five fighter jets, in Op Sindoor.
“In view of the new revelations by the Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh… why did the Prime Minister suddenly stop Operation Sindoor on the evening of May 10th… where did the pressure come from…”
Khera’s colleague, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, has also criticised the government on this count, even daring PM Modi to call out and reject Trump’s claims.
The Congress also pointed to a trade agreement being worked out by the two countries – against the backdrop of a tariff dispute that has seen Trump hit India with 50 per cent levies – as reasons why the Modi government had to listen to the ‘third umpire’ over Op Sindoor.
Throughout all this the government has repeatedly said the India-Pak ceasefire was the result of a direct conversation between the Director-General of Military Operations on each side. The Prime Minister made that clear in a phone call with Trump as far back as June.
The Indian government said Trump had been told the ceasefire had been ordered at the request of the Pak side, and that Delhi and Islamabad had discussed the terms of the ceasefire through existing channels of communication between the two militaries.