Put US trade deal ‘on hold’, renegotiate, Cong tells govt

NEW DELHI: Congress on Saturday demanded that govt “put on hold” the India-US trade deal in view of the decision of the United States Supreme Court invalidating the reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and “renegotiate” the terms of the deal.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi accused PM Modi of being “compromised”, alleging that his (Modi’s) “betrayal” in the trade deal now stands exposed. “He can’t renegotiate. He will surrender again.” In an X post, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote: “Clueless foreign policy or one-sided surrender? Why did the Modi govt not wait for the US SC judgment on tariffs before rushing to fall into a trap deal, which extracted huge concessions from India?” Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said there was a provision in the ‘Framework of Interim Agreement’ that in case of one country modifying the terms, the other country can also do that.


Referring to Trump’s statement after the SC decision the trade agreement still holds, Ramesh said Modi must say in clear terms the ‘Framework of Interim Agreement’ cannot be implemented under current circumstances. Party general secretary Randeep Surjewala asked if Modi govt will now declare in “national interest” it will buy cheaper Russian and Iranian crude oil.

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