The Congress party took a sharp swipe at the Narendra Modi government on Monday after US President Donald Trump announced that New Delhi and Washington had agreed to a trade deal, asserting that the prime minister had “capitulated finally.”
“In Washington, clearly Mogambo Khush Hai,” said Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, invoking the popular dialogue from the 1987 Hindi film Mr India to mock the government’s response.
Ramesh noted that Trump had, from Washington DC, first announced the halt of Operation Sindoor, then updated on India’s oil purchases from Russia and Venezuela, and now this trade deal — with the full details still awaited.
“President Trump clearly seems to have some leverage over Prime Minister Modi -- who is now mortified of even being seen with him, let alone engaging in the usual bout of hugs. It appears Mr Modi has capitulated finally. Surely this cannot be the father of all deals,” he wrote on X.
Ramesh also criticised the pattern in which Indians were reportedly learning about their government’s actions from announcements by the US president. “It seems that Prime Minister Modi and President Trump spoke to each other today. This information has been provided not by the Indian side but by the US Ambassador to India. This now seems to be the routine - India gets to know of its government’s actions only from President Trump or his appointees. Trump-nirbharta,” he said.
Earlier, Trump posted on his social media platform that India and the US had agreed to a trade deal under which Washington would reduce the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods to 18 per cent from the current 25 per cent.
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Prime Minister Modi took to X to welcome the development, saying it was "wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today." Expressing gratitude that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent, Modi said: "Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.”