Kamal Ghorui
Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha
NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the recently signed India-US trade agreement, claiming the deal was poorly negotiated and compromised country’s interests.Speaking in the Lok Sabha, the Congress leader laid out what he described as the approach INDIA bloc would have taken while dealing with US President Donald Trump.
Rahul said that India had failed to leverage its most valuable asset, its data, while negotiating with Washington.Rahul insisted that the INDIA bloc would have taken a far firmer stand with the Trump administration.“I will tell you what we would say. The first thing we would say is President Trump, the most important thing in this equation is Indian data. You want to protect your dollar? We are your friends. We appreciate you. We want to help you protect your dollar. But please remember that if you want to protect your dollar, the biggest asset that can protect your dollar is lying with the Indian people,” he said.“We would tell President Trump, if you want access to Indian data, you will have to talk to us as an equal. We would not be made equal to Pakistan. We would have told Trump: our energy security is our energy security and we are going to protect it. INDIA bloc government would have told Trump ‘we will protect our farmers,” Rahul asserted.Rahul also accused the Modi government of surrendering key digital and economic safeguards in the agreement.“If President Trump decided that the Pakistan Army Chief was going to have breakfast with him, then we would have something to say about that. Now what has happened? You’ve done a trade deal… The thing that is going to transform India in the 21st century, the thing that is going to make us a superpower in the 21st century, this is what the Modi government has done with our data. We give up control over our digital trade rules. Number two, there is no need for data localisation. Number three, free data flow to the United States. Number four, limit on digital tax. Number five, no need to disclose any source code. The finance minister is smiling. She likes to smile a lot. 20-year free tax holiday to anybody who wants it, to the big tax company. This is what you’ve done on data…” Rahul said.The Congress leader also argued that the deal would sharply increase India’s dependence on American imports while offering little in return.“For first time in history our farmers are facing a storm; you’ve opened door to crush poor farmers, no PM has ever done this. You have sold India; are you not ashamed of selling India,” he said.Gandhi alleged that the government has “sold Bharat Mata” through the India-US interim trade deal and that it was a “wholesale surrender”.“You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata,” he said while referring to the trade agreement.
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