Opposition leaders, including Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT), lashed out at the government over the India-US deal. While Ramesh quipped “enough enough na raha”, Chaturvedi said the Indian government was “following orders” from the US.
According to a joint statement by New Delhi and Washington, India pledged to “eliminate or reduce” tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products.
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These products include dried distillers grains, red sorghum for animal feed, nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and other products.
The statement further informed that India intends to buy $500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal in the next 5 years.
The two countries will “immediately” implement the framework and work to finalize an interim agreement with the aim of concluding a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA), the statement said.
What did the opposition say?
Congress President Jairam Ramesh he said the India-US joint statement on the interim trade deal was “silent” on details and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “all the hugs and photo-ops didn’t mean much”.
He quipped, “Dost dost na raha…” — the iconic line from Mukesh’s song “Dost dost na raha” from the 1964 film ‘Sangam’.
Ramesh said, “The joint statement between the United States and India that was just released is silent on the details.” He issued a 5-point statement claiming that “India will no longer import oil from Russia”.
The Indian government has yet to confirm US claims that it will not buy Russian oil as part of a “historic” deal with the US.
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Ramesh also claimed that “India will reduce import duties to help American farmers at the expense of Indian farmers”. He added: “India’s annual imports from the US will triple and wipe out our long-term merchandise trade surplus.”
Meantime, Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi he reiterated that the framework of the India-US agreement “is not the result of talks but an order from the US to which the Government of India has committed itself”. She claimed that the center “follows most of what the President of the United States has already said about Truth Social.”
Congress president Manish Tewari also said, “It seems that the industrial sector has been thrown wide open and even the wording ‘including’ is not restricted even in the case of agriculture.”
He sought a discussion on the India-US agreement in Parliament.
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“This deserves a full debate in Parliament on what exactly has been agreed by the Indian government as well, as it has seemingly dire implications given the huge unilateral concessions across multiple customs lines that India has already made in the 2026 Finance Bill.” Tewari said.
Meantime, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Rajiv Rai said: “This is not only a compromise of our interests but also a compromise on land dignity. The destruction of the farmers was written into it.’
He argued: “Until now, weak governments have collected high taxes from the United States…and given either no or negligible tax in return. But the 56-inch government has handed everything over to its ‘my dear friend Trump.’
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Besides, PDP MLA Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi told ANI that the Indian government must ensure protection of Indian interests. “It shouldn’t look like a deal is being made to make Donald Trump, some capitalist class happy…Our economic interests shouldn’t be surrendered,” he said.