Congress always opposes India’s economic growth: BJP
NEW DELHI, Feb 7: The Congress claimed on Saturday that the Indo-US trade pact is “not a deal but a surrender” of the country’s self-esteem and interests, and that it is a betrayal of India and its people.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also claimed that India will soon become a dumping ground for American products and it will hurt the interests of the farmers and small and medium industries here.
“This deal is a betrayal to all that India stands for and all that India stood for over the last 75 years. This is not a deal which is in our interest. This is a total surrender by none other than Narender,” Khera said, taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress leader added that he has proved that “Narender is surrender”.
“India has been made into a dumping ground by this deal. I do not want to call it a deal, as a deal is amongst equals and you sit across the table and negotiate. A deal cannot be with a gun held on your head…. It is blackmail, it is a surrender,” he said.
Khera also alleged that US is dubbing India as a “thief” as it will keep a close watch on New Delhi buying oil from Russia and showed an order from the United States government.
The opposition party’s attack came soon after Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India has not given any duty concessions on any dairy product and claimed that several Indian goods, including agricultural products, will attract zero reciprocal tariff in the US.
India and the US announced on Saturday that they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement, under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost the two-way trade.
Khera said this is not a pact with the US, but a “compromise with our self-esteem and the interests of our farmers and MSMEs and the middle-class”.
Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, Khera said it now works according to the US time, alleging that all decisions, whether on announcing a ceasefire of military conflicts or a trade deal, are taken in the US.
He said the trade deal was signed between India and the US without Goyal even travelling abroad.
“The government is functioning in accordance with the American time zone and there cannot be anything more regrettable than this. A deal is between two partners sitting across the table and not due to blackmail.
“That is called surrender. The name is Narender, the work is surrender. This deal has once again proved this,” Khera said, alleging that Modi has “surrendered” before the US.
He said the Congress does not feel good when the prime minister “surrenders” before any other country as “it is unfortunate”.
Khera alleged that this was not the first time that Modi was seen “surrendering” India’s interests before other countries.
“You have seen Narendra Modi giving clean chits to China. Now, we have gone and announced that we will buy products worth USD 500 billion over the next five years from the US. There is no corresponding commitment from the US.
He said earlier, India used to hold talks with the US and other countries looking them in the eye.
According to a joint statement, India has expressed its intention to purchase US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal worth USD 500 billion over the next five years.
Goyal said the interim pact will open a USD 30 trillion market for Indian exporters, especially for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), farmers and fishermen, as the US duties on Indian goods will come down to 18 per cent.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that Goyal’s defence of the India-US trade deal from the point of view of Indian farmers is “too clever by half”.
He said the joint India-US statement has something called “additional products” that are not specified.
BJP REACTS
The BJP on Saturday said India has “firmly protected” its agriculture and dairy sectors under the interim trade agreement with the US and accused the Congress of running a propaganda campaign to create “suspicion and confusion” among the people.
The ruling party asserted that the India-US trade framework will “significantly” benefit the country and slammed the Congress for claiming that the odds are “stacked heavily against India”, alleging that the opposition party always opposed the country’s economic growth.
The BJP’s response came after the Congress took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the interim trade agreement, claiming that under the deal, the odds are stacked heavily against India, and all the “huglomacy and photo-ops” have not amounted to much.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh also mocked the prime minister with the phrase “Naam Narender, Kaam Surrender”, citing a White House release that said Washington will now monitor whether India is importing oil from Russia.
Rejecting the criticism, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said India has firmly protected its interests in the agriculture and dairy sectors with complete maturity and unwavering resolve under Modi’s leadership.
“In simpler terms, those which have been protected include wheat, rice, sugar, pulses, millets, sorghum, pearl millet and dairy products,” he told reporters at the BJP headquarters.
He said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has spelt out the details of the India-US trade agreement framework.
“After this, there is no room left for any suspicion or confusion which the opposition parties are consistently propagating,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said. Hitting back at Ramesh, BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari claimed that the Congress is clearly uncomfortable with India emerging as a global deal-maker under Modi’s leadership. (PTI)
