New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday slammed the government's handling of the ongoing West Asia conflict and India's diplomatic posture, calling recent developments a 'severe setback' for the country.

https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/2036278769862996134

Taking to social media platform X, Ramesh said, 'Multiple reports in leading international media outlets have identified Pakistan as one of the intermediaries being used between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. If these reports are true, they represent a severe setback and rebuff to India -- and it is all attributable to the self-styled Vishwaguru.'

He asserted that 'For over a year, it has been abundantly clear that in spite of our undoubted military successes in Operation Sindoor, the sad reality is that thereafter Pakistan's diplomatic engagement and narrative management has been markedly superior to that of the Modi Govt. Pakistan which was in a hugely precarious situation --politically, socially, economically and globally -- has received a fresh lease of life.'

Highlighting what he said was growing warmth between Islamabad and Washington, Ramesh said, 'President Trump warmly and repeatedly embraced the man whose incendiary and inflammatory rhetoric formed the backdrop to the Pahalgam terror attacks on April 22, 2025, and hosted Field Marshall Asim Munir twice in the White House (including for an unprecedented lunch). The Pakistani establishment has developed a cosy relationship with President Trump's immediate circle.'

On India's diplomacy, he criticised the Prime Minister's recent foreign engagements, stating: 'Mr Modi's ill-advised visit to Israel, that ended just two days before the unprovoked US-Israel aerial assaults on Iran began, will go down in our political history as a singularly disastrous choice -- one that has made us retreat from a position where we could and should have mediated.'

He further added, 'The Prime Minister's huglomacy stands brutally exposed. The country is being forced to pay a price for this.'

Meanwhile, US White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said nothing concrete could be said as of now over the reports claiming that US Vice President JD Vance, US Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions, Steve Witkoff and Businessman and former Senior Advisor to the President of the United States, Jared Kushner, will meet with Iranian officials in Islamabad.

In response to an ANI query, Leavitt said that it should not be deemed as final until it is formally announced by the White House.

Leavitt responded, 'These are sensitive diplomatic discussions, and the US will not negotiate through the press. This is a fluid situation, and speculation about meetings should not be deemed as final until they are formally announced by the White House.'

The Times of Israel reported about an unnamed Israeli official who said that mediating countries are trying to convene a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, between the US and Iran, possibly as soon as later this week.

Meanwhile, US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says he has 'tremendous confidence' in the engagement Trump claims to have had with Iran. (ANI)