‘Namaste Trump beat Howdy Modi’: Congress slams PM Over India-US trade deal

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh criticised the Prime Minister, saying Modi’s much-touted “hug diplomacy” has failed to deliver tangible benefits for India, especially as bilateral ties with the US have remained strained since President Donald Trump took office last year.

In a post on X, Ramesh warned that the US could re-impose 25% tariffs on India if New Delhi continues to purchase Russian oil, directly or indirectly.

“India’s annual imports from the USA will triple, wiping out our longstanding goods trade surplus. There will continue to be great uncertainty on India’s exports of IT and other services to the US. India’s exports of goods to the US will face higher duties than before,” he said.

Taking a dig at the government, the Congress leader added, “All the hugs and photo-ops have not amounted to much. Namaste Trump has scored over Howdy Modi.”

As previously announced by Trump, the US has reduced the overall 50% tariff—comprising 25% counter-tariffs and the remaining portion linked to Russian oil purchases—to 18%, offering relief to Indian traders.

India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced on X: “As part of this framework, the US will slash reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18%, providing a huge market opportunity in key sectors such as textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber products, organic chemicals, home décor, artisanal products, and select machinery in the world’s largest economy.

“Additionally, tariffs will go down to zero on a wide range of goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, gems and diamonds, and aircraft parts, thereby further enhancing India’s export competitiveness and Make in India.”

“India will also get exemptions under Section 232 on aircraft parts, tariff-rate quotas on auto parts, and negotiated outcomes on generic pharmaceuticals, leading to tangible export gains in these sectors,” he added.

The agreement also states that India intends to purchase $500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.

Hailing the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked President Trump for his “personal commitment” to strengthening India-US ties, saying the framework reflects the “growing depth, trust and dynamism of our partnership.”

“It strengthens ‘Make in India’ by opening new opportunities for India’s hardworking farmers, entrepreneurs, MSMEs, startup innovators, fishermen and more. It will generate large-scale employment for women and youngsters,” the Prime Minister said.

However, India did not confirm whether it has stopped purchasing oil from Russia, a claim recently made by the White House. Russia, meanwhile, reiterated that India is free to buy oil from any country.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency TASS: “India is free to buy oil from whomever it wants. We are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India. India has always purchased these products from other countries. Therefore, we see nothing new here.”

India, which depends on overseas sources for nearly 88% of its crude oil requirements, meets about one-third of its demand through imports from Russia. However, purchases fell to around 1.1 million barrels per day in the first three weeks of January, down from 1.21 million barrels per day in the previous month and over 2 million barrels per day in mid-2025, following Trump’s additional 25% tariffs on New Delhi, according to real-time analytics firm Kpler, as quoted by NDTV.