Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after US President Donald Trump announced an “immediate” India-US trade deal from Washington, adding New Delhi would move to cut tariffs and non-tariff barriers on American goods while the US reduces reciprocal tariffs on India.In a post on X, Ramesh alleged that key announcements impacting India, including the halt of Operation Sindoor, updates on India’s crude purchases from Russia and Venezuela, and now the trade deal itself, were being made from the US capital.
“He announced the halt of Op Sindoor from Washington DC. He announced the updates on India’s oil purchases from Russia and Venezuela from Washington. He’s now announced an India-US Trade Deal from Washington, the full details of which are awaited,” he wrote.“President Trump clearly seems to have some leverage over Prime Minister Modi,” he wrote, adding that the Prime Minister appeared “mortified of even being seen with him”, in an apparent reference to PM Modi’s earlier public bonhomie with Trump.Ramesh suggested that Modi had “capitulated” and questioned whether the agreement could be “the father of all deals”, using the Bollywood catchphrase “Mogambo Khush Hai” to underline the attack.“President Trump clearly seems to have some leverage over Prime Minister Modi – who is now mortified of even being seen with him, let alone engage in the usual bout of hugs. It appears Mr. Modi has capitulated finally. Surely this cannot be the father of all deals. In Washington clearly Mogambo Khush Hai,” he said.The Congress leader’s remarks came minutes after Trump, in his Truth Social post, said India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and would buy “much more” from the US and potentially Venezuela, arguing the shift would help end the Russia-Ukraine war. He also said the US would lower reciprocal tariffs from 25% to 18% and that India would move to reduce its tariffs and non-tariff barriers against the US to “zero”.Later, PM Modi thanked Trump for the tariff announcement. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said he was “delighted” that Made in India products would get a reduced tariff of 18%, and thanked the US President “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India” for the “wonderful announcement”.
