NEW DELHI: The Left parties have condemned the Government for the Indo-United States trade deal stating that it is an attack on the country’s sovereignty and “shameful surrender.” They sought complete details of the agreement to be presented before Parliament.
Through a statement issued by the Polit Bureau of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) on Sunday, the party said that as details of the agreement are emerging, it is becoming evident that the BJP-led union government has made sweeping concessions to the United States (US) in the so-called ‘interim deal’.
“This trade deal is a blow to our sovereignty, as the US is dictating our policies, including decisions on our purchase of oil from Russia. The Executive Order issued by US President Donald Trump establishes a monitoring mechanism to assess our compliance with these dictates and threatens the imposition of tariffs if they are violated,” it said.
It is highly deplorable that the Government has committed to increasing its dependence on US defence supplies, which will be detrimental to India’s strategic interests, the CPM added.
It is absolutely clear that once again, Prime Minister Modi has surrendered before the Trump administration.
The statement also said that reports also indicate that the Government has agreed to remove non-tariff barriers on food and agricultural products, which would effectively mean a rollback of support and subsidies for Indian farmers, exposing them to competition from heavily subsidised US farm products and making Indian agriculture increasingly unviable.
The general secretary of CPI-(Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation (CPIML-Liberation) Dipankar Bhattacharya said that with the deal, it is absolutely clear that once again, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has surrendered before the Donald Trump administration. “Economic sovereignty means deciding for ourselves whom we will trade with, what we will buy, how much we will buy — these are sovereign decisions of the Indian government and the Indian people. If, at America’s insistence, the government starts deciding where we will buy oil from, how much we will buy, and from whom we will not buy, then this is a complete sacrifice and a total loss of India’s economic sovereignty,” he said. By removing all protection and pushing Indian farmers into direct competition with American agriculture, this deal is nothing less than a death warrant for Indian farming,” Bhattacharya added.
Criticizing the agreement, the general secretary of CPI D Raja, earlier, also said that the gravest consequences of this agreement will be borne by India’s farmers and agricultural workers. “A reduction in US tariffs on Indian exports is being projected as a major gain, even this remains conditional and limited, while India is being pushed towards large scale import commitments that far exceed existing trade volumes and distort national priorities. Such backroom arrangements undermine transparency, democratic scrutiny, and economic sovereignty,” he said. Raja further said that by openly linking trade concessions to India’s energy choices, particularly crude oil imports, the US administration has sought to arm twist India into aligning its economic and foreign policy decisions with Washington’s strategic agenda. “This represents a dangerous erosion of India’s strategic autonomy and non aligned tradition, replacing independent decision making with coercive dependency,” he said.
