Opposition targets India's diplomacy over Trump's tariff announcement, seeks explanation from PM
'After the U.S. has slapped India with 25% tariffs, will the PM now grow a spine and stand up to Trump? By staying silent on Trump's ceasefire statements and his warmth towards Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, PM Modi made the grave miscalculation of trying to appease Trump in the hope that India will receive a favourable trade deal,' Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said in a post on social media platform on X.
Parliament Monsoon session Day 8 Highlights | July 30, 2025
'This completely exposes how the Modi government has compromised our national security and sovereignty by linking it to trade. We demand a clear explanation from the PM himself on how the Government plans to navigate this perilous situation they have landed us in,' Mr. Venugopal said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja, in a post on X, said President Trump had talked 30 times about mediating the ceasefire between India and Pakistan using trade as leverage, yet the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had remained silent.
'Trump is targeting India politically, economically, and morally. And the Prime Minister is not being truthful, neither to the people nor to Parliament. When the aggressor is rewarded with complicit silence, and the Opposition is silenced for asking valid questions, this isn't diplomacy but disgrace,' Mr. Raja said.
'The PM must speak up! It's time India regains its political autonomy, economic sovereignty, and moral authority by standing tall and pursuing an independent foreign policy,' he added.
'Mr. Modi thought that if he kept quiet on the insults that the U.S. President has hurled on India – the 30 claims of stopping Op Sindoor, the special lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief whose inflammatory remarks provided the immediate backdrop to the brutal Pahalgam terror attacks, and U.S. support for financial packages to Pakistan from the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and the World Bank – India would get special treatment at the hands of President Trump. Clearly that has NOT happened,' Congress's communications chief Jairam Ramesh said on X.
'He should take inspiration from Indira Gandhi and stand up to the U.S. President,' Mr. Ramesh added.
Also Read | Trump wants call with PM Modi before final approval on India-U.S. trade deal
'The @realDonaldTrump has perhaps given the biggest tribute to Indian strategic exceptionalism and strategic autonomy now stretching back to 1947,' Congress MP Manish Tewari said on X.
Mr. Tewari said the policy of non-alignment, put in place by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, which is now called multi-alignment, and Indira Gandhi's self-reliance, which is now called Atamanirbhar Bharat, were a strategic continuum 'that provides the Indian state with the flexibility to engage with the world on its own terms and in its best national interest'.
'Would @realDonaldTrump's Tariff threat make any difference to the strategic autonomy that we have built up over the decades and across different dispensations and administrations - NOT REALLY. Would it damage the larger fabric of the Indo-U.S. engagement - PERHAPS!' Mr. Tewari said on X.
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