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'Kya mirchi lagti hai?' Piyush Goyal says Rahul disrupted US-India trade deal discussion in Parliament
Trump late Monday claimed that tariffs on India are being slashed from 25 to 18 per cent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil.
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal blamed Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for not letting the government share details about the US-India trade deal in Parliament because of the “ugly scenes” created by him.
US President Donald Trump late Monday claimed that tariffs on India are being slashed from 25 per cent to 18 per cent after Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil - a declaration that is yet to be confirmed by the Indian side.
“I wanted to speak in Parliament about the deal, but could not do so because of ugly scenes created by Congress led by Rahul Gandhi,” Piyush Goyal said while addressing media on the US-India trade agreement on Tuesday.
“Rahul Gandhi is a negative person (has a negative mentality), and any leader who joins hands with him -- doesn't like a deal which will benefit so many sectors,” Goyal said in a press briefing that was meant for sharing details of the agreement but didn't seem to share much.
“Rahul Gandhi ko kya mirchi lagti hai [why is Rahul Gandhi feeling a burn],” Piyush Goyal said, adding that “he will have to answer what he wants to achieve with this negative mentality.”
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"The Opposition has been questioning why Trump tweeted about the deal first…This is not just a trade deal, but a milestone for India's bright future, Piyush Goyal said.
He slammed Opposition over its criticism of the US-India trade deal announcement by describing the bloc as a “failed group of disparate, disgruntled and rejected leaders of Congress and their friends”.
Rahul Gandhi's citation of an unpublished memoir carrying former Army chief MM Naravane's account of the India-China conflict caused ruckus in Lok Sabha on Monday and Tuesday, leading to repeated adjournments.
The ‘trade deal’
US President Donald Trump late Monday announced that a trade deal was reached by India and the US, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed during a phone call to stop buying Russian oil.
Later, Modi, without using the term “trade deal”, thanked President Trump “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India” for the “wonderful announcement” of slashing tariffs from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
“It was an Honor to speak with Prime Minister Modi, of India, this morning. He is one of my greatest friends and, a Powerful and Respected Leader of his Country. We spoke about many things, including Trade, and ending the War with Russia and Ukraine. He agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
This will help end the in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week, Trump added.
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%. They will likewise move forward to reduce their Tariffs and Non Tariff Barriers against the United States, to ZERO,” Trump's post added.
Trump claimed Modi also committed to "buy American," at a much higher level, in addition to over $500 billion dollars of US energy, technology, agricultural, coal, and many other products.
Describing his friendship with PM Modi as “amazing”, Trump said India-US relationship will be even stronger going forward.
