Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the PM had observed a “maun vrat” in Parliament on US President Donald Trump’s India-Pakistan ceasefire claims, and asked whether he will remain silent on the baseless allegations made by the American leader on India.
Kharge also asserted that the nation comes first and “we are always with the nation”.
His remarks came after Trump once again mounted a sharp attack on India and Russia for their close ties and said that the two countries can take their “dead economies down together”.
The US president’s fresh criticism of New Delhi and Moscow came hours after announcing 25 per cent tariffs against India, plus a “penalty” for its trade with Russia.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” he said, adding, “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” Trump said.
In a post on X, Kharge said, “Modi ji had observed a ‘maun vrat’ in the Parliament on Donald Trump’s statements on ceasefire. Will Modi ji remain silent on the baseless allegations made by Trump on India?” “Narendra Modi ji, nation comes first and we are always with the nation,” Kharge said.
He noted that Trump has imposed a 25 per cent tariff plus a penalty on India.
“This will harm the country’s trade; MSMEs and farmers will also be adversely affected. Many industries will suffer heavy losses. Your ministers have been talking about negotiating a trade deal with America for months. Some of them camped in Washington for several days,” he said.
“This is how your friend — ‘Namaste Trump’ and ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’ rewarded our country for your friendship?” he said.
Kharge said the US president has given the reason for the tariff as India’s oil import from Russia, India’s purchase of weapons from Russia, India’s membership of BRICS and BRICS’ so-called attack on the US dollar.
The Congress president claimed that this is a severe blow to India’s national policy of “strategic autonomy”.
“History is witness that non-alignment has been the foundation of our foreign policy. All governments, irrespective of parties in power, have strengthened friendship with the various countries across the globe, in the interest of India,” he said.
During the UPA government, Manmohan Singh as the prime minister got India a nuclear waiver from 45 countries including the US, Kharge pointed out.
“The US supported us. For that, they changed their law. But India was not bound to take nuclear fuel and material only from the US. Our options were open. Your government’s foreign policy has dealt a severe blow to that national policy,” he said.
Trump is talking about doing a deal with Pakistan on oil reserves and is “threatening India”, Kharge said, and asked why the PM was “sitting silent”.
“We are worried about this new America-China-Pakistan Axis. Instead of worrying about PR, the Modi government should think about the country,” Kharge said.