The Leader of the Opposition listed three points that he claimed the government should have adhered to while dealing with what he described as an unpredictable Trump. Rahul said the key to protecting the American dollar was Indian data.
"If the INDIA alliance were negotiating with President Trump, the first thing we would say is, if you want to protect your dollar, we are your friends... the biggest asset that can protect your dollar is with the Indian people. We would say, if you want access to this data, then please understand that you are going to talk to us as an equal. You're not going to talk to us as if we are your servants," Rahul said.
Secondly, the Congress MP underscored that India should have protected its energy security, alluding to Trump's remark that New Delhi had agreed to stop its Russian oil purchases under the new trade deal.
Thirdly, he raised the issue of farmers. "We would say, President Trump, we understand that you have a voter base and you need to protect your farmers. But we will also protect our farmers... We will not be made equal to Pakistan," Rahul underlined.
Rahul's blistering attack comes after India and the US reached an interim trade agreement last week, with Trump cutting tariffs on Indian goods to 18% from a crippling 50%. However, Trump mentioned that India had pledged to stop Russian oil purchases — a claim not confirmed by either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or his ministers.
"Now, the US will decide who we buy oil from, not our Prime Minister," he said.
Training his guns on Narendra Modi, the Congress MP — who had already created a flutter in the Budget session by attempting to read from an unpublished book of former Army chief General Mukund Naravane — said the Prime Minister should be ashamed of "selling India" by agreeing to open the country's sensitive agriculture market to American farm goods.
"I am saying that you have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? Do you have no shame in selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata... you have opened the door to crush our poor farmers," Rahul further said.
After Rahul Gandhi's speech ended, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said no one can sell India and accused the Congress party of weakening the country. He asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the strongest PM of India and said, "Congress is sad because India is progressing."
He alleged that the Congress MP makes speeches in Parliament filled with lies and baseless allegations before walking out. "He never stays back to listen to the minister's reply," Rijiju said.
"It is very unfortunate that we don't have a very serious nature or a person with a serious character befitting the position of the leader of the opposition. Our party has taken a stand that we will counter Rahul Gandhi's lies outside, but inside the House, a notice will be issued. We will serve the notice to the Speaker. Rahul Gandhi has promised that he will authenticate, but I know he cannot authenticate because he lied. He lied on the house," the minister said.
(With inputs from IANS)
