US President Donald Trump has imposed a 25% tariff, along with penalties, on imports from India, drawing sharp criticism from the Congress party. Trump cited India’s continued defence and energy ties with Russia as the reason for imposing the tariffs, which will come into effect from August 1.
The grand old party took to X (previously Twitter) and took shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling Trump tariffs a “catastrophic failure of foreign policy”.
The Congress also said in its post that Modi campaigned for Trump, gave out slogans like ‘Abki baar Trump Sarkar’, and hugs him like a lost brother, all for nothing.
It added: “In return, Trump goes on to impose such harsh tariff on India. It is a catastrophic failure of foreign policy. An entire nation suffers from the consequences of one man’s ‘Friendship’.”
In his post on X, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy stance, suggesting that New Delhi’s conciliatory approach toward Washington has yielded few benefits.
Ramesh noted that despite high-profile public displays of camaraderie—such as the “Howdy Modi” event—India has not received preferential treatment from the U.S. under Trump.
He cited several contentious developments, including Trump’s unverified claim of stopping “Operation Sindoor” 30 times, a White House lunch for the Pakistan Army Chief amid regional tensions, and continued U.S. support for financial aid packages to Pakistan from global institutions like the IMF and World Bank.
He urged Prime Minister Modi to take a firmer stand, drawing inspiration from former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s approach to international diplomacy.
In a statement posted on Truth Social, Trump criticised India’s longstanding trade practices and called its tariffs among the “highest in the world” while accusing New Delhi of imposing “strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers”.
Slamming India-Russia ties, Trump wrote: “They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia… at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE.”
