'Victory or PR-wrapped sacrifice of India's interests?': Mallikarjun Kharge on US deal

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the Indo-US interim trade agreement sacrifices India's strategic national interests and exposes the betrayal of the Modi government.

Dubbing the deal as "trapped surrender", Kharge, in a post on X, alleged, "Fine print of the Indo-US trade deal has exposed how PM Modi mortgaged India's national interests."

He said the truth of the "trap deal" is now slowly coming out and listed four key objections to the pact.

Citing the issue of Russian oil and strategic autonomy, Kharge said, "We were told that the Indo-US Joint Statement said nothing on Russian oil, even though Mr. Trump publicly tweeted otherwise. Now the White House fact sheet clearly lists 'India's commitment to stop purchasing Russian Federation oil' as a condition for removal of an additional 25 percent tariff." He then asked, "The Modi Government agreed to this erosion of India's sovereignty. Why?"

Kharge said the Congress had already exposed the executive order placing India under US monitoring for direct or indirect oil imports.

He alleged that India's farmers had been backstabbed, while claiming that for the first time in India's history, a government had completely opened agriculture to foreign goods.

"Now, we know what 'Additional Products' actually meant in the Indo-US joint statement agreed by Modi Government! 'Pulses' have been silently added in the newly released White House fact sheet on February 9, which was not part of the Indo-US Joint Statement issued on Feb 6, 2026.

"The utility of red sorghum imports to India was mentioned in the Joint Statement, but that utility pertaining to 'animal feed' has now mysteriously vanished in the White House fact sheet of February 9, 2026," he said.

Kharge accused the Union government of "betraying our gau-mata and dairy farmers" and said the trade deal calls for importing food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs) and red sorghum for animal feed, from the United States.

The leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha claimed that it was well known that if Indian cattle consume American feed, which is largely GM (genetically modified), it will alter the breed of our cattle and the taste of our milk.

Kharge said that full-page ads are being published in newspapers, and Amul is being forced to whitewash this concession.

But the truth is that, he said, the Modi government did not approve GM feed since 2017, and now it suddenly did.

"Two crore dairy farmers will suffer the consequences, but RSS-Sangh Parivar-BJP, who carry out lynchings in the name of the cow, are hell-bent on destroying our country's cattle population," he alleged.

Kharge claimed that the trade deal also stands to hurt the apparel sector. He said that the 18 per cent tariff was no "historic win" and the US-Bangladesh deal reveals it as a "strategic surrender." "By granting Dhaka zero-duty access for using American cotton, Washington has effectively incentivised Bangladesh over Indian farmers to save their own margins," he wrote in his post.

As textile hubs like Tirupur and Surat are shackled by 18 per cent taxes, Bangladesh gains a 0 per cent fast-track, dealing a lethal "double whammy" to Indian cotton and garments alike, the Congress leader said.

"Conclusion: Is this a victory or a PR-wrapped betrayal that sacrifices India's strategic national interests and export engine at the altar of Epstein Files?" Kharge asked.