New Delhi [India], July 19 (ANI): Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over US President Donald Trump's 'five jets shot down' remark, Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Saturday said that the opting to remain silent over these claims cannot become an official response of the government.

In a post on X, Tagore questioned as to what is stopping the government from 'issuing clarifications' over the matter and whether it is 'afraid of telling the truth' on how cessation of hostilities took place between India and Pakistan.

'President Donald Trump (again): 'We stopped a lot of wars... India-Pakistan was serious. I think 5 jets were shot down.This is the 25th time he's claimed he stopped a war...Trump boasts about preventing a nuclear conflict using 'trade pressure.' Pakistan applauds him. They've even proposed a Nobel Prize. So what really happened? And why is Modi in Maun Viraat mode?' Tagore posted on X.

'If 5 fighter jets were really shot down, as Trump says, the nation deserves to know: Who authorised retaliation? What role did the US play? Did India cave to foreign pressure? Silence cannot be the official response. Trump is building his re-election pitch on this claim. But Modi, the self-styled Loh Purush, won't even clarify? Isn't this foreign interference in our strategic affairs? Why is the Govt so afraid of telling the truth?' he added.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump once again claimed to have halted the escalation of the India-Pakistan conflict.

'We stopped a lot of wars. And these were serious, India and Pakistan, that were going on. Planes were being shot out of there. I think five jets were shot down, actually. These are two serious nuclear countries, and they were hitting each other. You know, it seems like a new form of warfare. You saw it recently when you looked at what we did in Iran, where we knocked out their nuclear capability, totally knocked out that,' he said.

India has repeatedly said that the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan following the success of Operation Sindoor did not come about due to any mediation, and it happened after Pakistan's DGMO called his Indian counterpart. (ANI)