‘Hug hug na raha’: Congress takes dig at PM Modi; reacts to stalled India–US trade deal

NEW DELHI: Congress ngress MP Jairam Ramesh on Friday took a swipe on BJP-led Centre by sharing comments made by US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, claiming that India missed out on a trade deal with the United States because there was no direct engagement at the leadership level.Posting a clip from a podcast featuring Lutnick on X, Ramesh wrote, “Hug hag na raha, post post na raha, kya se kya ho gaya bewafa tere dosti mein,” to mock what he described as a decline in the relationship between the two countries. His remarks followed Lutnick’s comments on the ‘All-in podcast’, where he said the India–US trade deal stalled because Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not personally call US President Donald Trump.Lutnick said negotiations had reached an advanced stage, with contracts discussed and the overall structure of the deal prepared. However, he claimed the final step required direct contact between the two leaders.“I would negotiate the contracts and set the whole deal up, but let’s be clear. It’s his deal. He’s the closer. You’ve got to have Modi call the President. They were uncomfortable doing it. So Modi didn’t call,” Lutnick said.He added that after waiting, the US went ahead and finalised trade agreements with other countries in the region.Lutnick also explained Trump’s approach to trade talks, describing it as a “staircase” system. Countries that moved early, he said, got better terms, while those that came later faced higher rates.According to Lutnick, India was publicly named several times as the next country in line for a deal and was given “three Fridays” to close the agreement. When that did not happen, the US announced trade deals with countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.