NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader and former home minister P Chidambaram slammed the Centre after US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on imports from India, saying that ‘Dosti’ is no substitute for diplomacy and painstaking negotiations.Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious pitch combining ‘Make India Great Again’ (MIGA) with Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) to form a so-called ‘MEGA’ partnership, Chidambaram questioned, “What happened to MIGA + MAGA = MEGA?”In a post on X, Chidambaram said, “The 25 per cent tariff on all Indian exports to the United States PLUS penalty for buying Russian oil is a big blow to India’s trade with the U.S. ‘Dosti’ is no substitute for diplomacy and painstaking negotiations The tariff imposed by the U.S. is a clear violation of the WTO rules What happened to MIGA + MAGA = MEGA?”
‘Tareef hi tareef mein tariff lag gaya’
Trump’s 25%tariff announcement has stirred the row in India. Congress took a big ‘blackmail’ charge on the United States over the tariff, saying “tareef hi tareef mein tariff lag gaya.”Congress MP Jairam Ramesh questioned over India-US friendship and reiterated his ‘Operation Sindoor’ jab. “This is a huge setback to PM Modi and India…Taareef hi tareef mein tariff lag gaya…There were no gains from Howdy Modi and Namaste Trump… President Trump has stated 30 times that he halted Operation Sindoor. So what did we get from this (India-US) friendship? The country is still questioning why Operation Sindoor was suddenly stopped. This is a huge setback for our country, our economy and the PM. The PM should not be scared. This is blackmail by the US…It is a time of trouble for us. This will impact our engineering, pharmaceuticals, and business industries. This is a huge challenge before us. We used to think there were two big challenges before us – Pakistan and China, but the US has emerged as the third big trouble,” the Congress leader said while talking to ANI.
US announces 25% tariff on India
Trump, in a post on Truth Social announced that India will pay 25 per cent tariff from August 1 ‘plus penalty’ for buying Russian oil and military arms.The move came just a day after officials announced that a US trade delegation would visit New Delhi on August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations toward a bilateral trade deal.However, Centre hit back at Trump’s announcement and said it “has taken note of a statement by the US President on bilateral trade and the government is studying its implications.”“India and the US have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective. The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs. The government will take all steps necessary to secure our national interest, as has been the case with other trade agreements including the latest Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the UK,” the statement said.
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