‘Namaste Trump’ outdid ‘Howdy Modi’: Congress
New Delhi:The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the interim trade agreement with the US, claiming the deal is against India's interests, and that all the "huglomacy and photo-ops" have not amounted to much.
Slamming the government, the opposition party cited a White House release which said the US will now monitor whether India is importing oil from Russia, and said, "Naam Narender, Kaam Surrender".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the US-India joint statement just issued is silent on details. "But from what has been revealed, it is clear that: India will no longer import oil from Russia.
Separately, the US has announced that a 25 per cent penalty could be reimposed if India buys oil directly or indirectly from Russia," Ramesh said on X.
It has also been revealed that India will slash import duties to help American farmers at the cost of Indian farmers, Ramesh claimed.
"India's annual imports from the USA will triple, wiping out our longstanding goods trade surplus. There will continue to be great uncertainty on India's exports of IT and other services to the US. India's exports of goods to the US will face higher duties than before," Ramesh said.
"All the hugs and photo-ops have not amounted to much. Namaste Trump has scored over Howdy Modi," the Congress leader said, adding, "Dost dost na raha", taking a cue from Mukesh's iconic song from the 1964 film "Sangam".
In another post on X, Ramesh said, "The US will now monitor whether India is importing oil from Russia.
If the US decides India has imported Russian oil directly or indirectly, the extra 25 per cent tariff penalty is back. This is truly extraordinary. And we have accepted it! Naam Narender, Kaam Surrender."
The US has said that India has committed to stop directly or indirectly importing Russian oil, following which the additional 25 per cent tariffs imposed by America on Indian goods will be removed effective February 7.
According to an executive order issued by the White House, India has also committed to a framework with the US to expand defence cooperation over the next 10 years. Later, speaking with PTI Videos, Ramesh said this (trade pact) is still a statement of intent, as the details have not been announced yet. "They will be announced, I suppose, in the next few months," he said.
"Today, we enjoy a trade surplus of about USD 45 billion with America. We have announced that we will buy USD 500 billion more over the next five years, which means imports from America will at least triple“ we have committed to importing USD 100 billion for the next five years. Today we enjoy a trade surplus; it could very well become a trade deficit," Ramesh said.
