NEW DELHI — India’s opposition leaders on Tuesday criticized the India-US trade deal reducing tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent, saying it jeopardized the country’s farmers’ interests.
On Monday night, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held telephone talks with US President Donald Trump, during which the latter agreed to reduce tariffs on India-made products to 18 percent from 25 percent.
Trump had also announced that India had agreed not to buy oil from Russia, but from Venezuela, though Modi remained silent over the issue in his statement announcing his talks with Trump.
Manish Tewari, a lawmaker of the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, lamented US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ statement that the new US-India deal would export more American farm products to India’s massive market.
“This is a serious question which we want to ask the government of India, because it is related to our farmers’ interests. That’s why we want to raise this issue in the Indian parliament,” said Tewari.
Leader of the Opposition in the Indian parliament’s lower house Rahul Gandhi told the media that in the India-US trade deal, Modi had “compromised” himself and “sold the country’s hard-earned progress.”
He added that Modi had signed the deal under “immense pressure” from the United States.
However, an online report by India Today quoted Indian government sources as saying that India’s crude purchases would be conducted globally from countries not under international sanctions based on prevailing market rates. “We did not buy from Venezuela when sanctions were in place. Now that sanctions are lifted, we will buy.”