NEW DELHI: After the US Supreme Court struck down a huge chunk of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, the Congress on Saturday intensified its attack on the Modi government, questioning why it had signed the trade deal in haste. The party also asked the government to put the Indo-US trade agreement on hold.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister is“compromised”, and that his “betrayal” in trade deal stands exposed. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked if the government has a “clueless foreign policy” or has engaged in a “one-sided surrender” to the US. “The PM is compromised. His betrayal now stands exposed. He can’t renegotiate. He will surrender again,” Gandhi posted on X.
Kharge asked why the Centre hadn’t waited for the US court’s verdict before rushing into an agreement, which he termed a “trap deal”. “The PM must tell the truth to people. What or who pressured you into compromising India’s national interest and strategic autonomy?” he asked in a post. “Was it Epstein Files?...Will the GoI wake up from its deep slumber and deliver a fair trade deal that preserves the self-respect of 140 crore Indians and the interest of our farmers, workers, small businesses and traders?”
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that if PM had not been so “desperate” to protect his “fragile image” and waited 18 days more, farmers would have been saved from distress, and Indian sovereignty would have been protected. “Yesterday after the US SC struck down his tariffs policy, President Trump declared that (i) Mr Modi is his great friend; (ii) the India-US trade deal will continue as announced…” he said on X.
Ramesh told reporters that there was a provision in the ‘Framework of Interim Agreement’ that if one country modifies the terms, the other can do that. “We demand that the PM categorically state that we will not carry out import liberalisation after the Supreme Court decision as there is a rethink in India’s policy and we won’t carry out liberalisation till clarifications are made,” he said.