In a scathing attack on the Modi government, the Congress on Sunday said India must put off the upcoming visit of US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and asserted that any self respecting nation will do more than mere phone calls and press statements to defend its sovereignty against "bullies".
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to meet US President Donald Trump this week, the opposition party also asked whether he will raise India's strongest condemnation over the killing of three Indian sailors in a US attack on a ship off the Oman Coast, and the "threatening and really unacceptable" language used by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on June 12.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh noted that Prime Minister Modi is set to meet his self-declared good friend President Trump shortly.
"The question that is uppermost on the minds of all Indian citizens is whether PM Modi will raise (i) India's strongest condemnation to the killing of three Indian sailors in a US attack on a ship off the Oman Coast; and (ii) the threatening and really unacceptable language used by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on June 12th, 2026," Ramesh said on X.
The US Trade Representative Greer is also set to visit India shortly to clinch the Indo-US Trade Deal, he noted.
"We must remember that the 'framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade' was announced by President Trump -- on what he said was at the specific request of PM Modi -- on the night of February 3, 2026, while PM Modi was under pressure from Rahul Gandhi's expose in Parliament of his cowardice relating to China.
"The 'deal' which was more like a steal saw the Modi Government unilaterally make enormous concessions that threaten our farmers and industries," Ramesh alleged.
Countries like Malaysia have declared their trade agreements with the US 'null and void' after the US Supreme Court ruling which struck down the Trump-tariffs that formed the backdrop to these agreement, the Congress leader pointed out.
The Modi government has not only failed to renounce this trade deal which endangers the futures of crores of India's farmers but has instead sat mute and helpless while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has proclaimed that the Modi Government has committed to purchasing USD 500 billion in US goods over the next five years, effectively doubling our annual US imports, Ramesh said.
"In light of the Rubio-Jaishankar interaction, the US Supreme Court's overturning of President Trump's tariff system, and the patent unfairness of the trade deal, the least India must do is to put off the visit of the US Trade Representative," he said.
"Any self respecting nation will do more than mere phone calls and press statements to defend its sovereignty against bullies," Ramesh said.
Trump will meet Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the G-7 meeting in France on Wednesday, American media reported quoting US officials. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since February last year in Washington and comes against the backdrop of concerns over the death of Indian mariners on commercial ships targeted by the US navy in the Strait of Hormuz.
The meeting between Trump and Modi will also be the first face-to-face interaction since the India-US relationship hit a rough patch after Operation Sindoor and Washington's decision to impose heavy tariffs on New Delhi.
The two leaders have had a couple of phone calls and also agreed on a framework for an interim bilateral trade deal in February, which is being negotiated.
Ramesh's remarks come a day after the US said it conveyed to India that any violation of its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated.
Rubio conveyed this to Jaishankar, who spoke with him on Friday to lodge a strong protest against the death of Indian nationals in US attacks on ships off the coast of Oman.
According to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, Secretary of State Rubio stressed that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from US forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the Strait.
Rubio underscored that violations of the US blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated, Pigott said in Washington.
The US has imposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz since April 13, preventing transit of ships to and from the ports of the Islamic Republic as part of its efforts to restrict Tehran from profiting from oil trade.
Three vessels with Indian crew came under attack off the Oman coast this week.
One of them resulted in the death of three Indian seafarers on Wednesday.
Jaishankar then called Rubio to protest their death in a US military strike on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Oman. "Such lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified," Jaishankar had said in a post on X after he spoke with Rubio.
Earlier on Friday, India summoned US Charge d'Affaires Jason Meeks in New Delhi and told him that the American military's lethal strikes on commercial vessels with Indian crew members off the coast of Oman are unacceptable.
Hours later, Trump accused Iran of carrying out drone attacks against Indian ships leaving the Strait of Hormuz, saying it was totally unacceptable.
