‘Hole in govt approach’: Congress attacks Centre over Russian oil, trade deal

The Congress on Monday trained its guns on the Union government over the reported remarks of external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and commerce minister Piyush Goyal on the contentious issues of Russian oil imports and the India–US trade deal, accusing the Centre of speaking in dissonant voices and lacking a coherent strategy.

Taking aim at the government’s handling of the matter, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi often boasts of what he describes as a “whole of government” approach. “But on the Russian oil issue and the India–US trade deal,” Ramesh remarked, “the commerce minister says ask the external affairs minister, the external affairs minister says ask the commerce minister, and the petroleum minister is preoccupied with other issues.”

In a pointed swipe at Jaishankar, Goyal and petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Ramesh said the unfolding exchanges exposed what he termed a “hole in government” approach to the India–US trade negotiations. He made the remarks in a post on X.

The criticism comes in the wake of a joint statement issued by India and the United States on Saturday outlining the framework for the first phase of a bilateral trade agreement. Under the proposed framework, India has expressed its intention to purchase USD 500 billion worth of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years.

As part of the deal, the United States will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent. US President Donald Trump has also signed an Executive Order scrapping the punitive 25 per cent tariffs earlier imposed on India over its purchases of Russian oil, the statement said.

Addressing concerns over a potential surge in imports from the US, commerce minister Piyush Goyal has maintained that adequate safeguards have been built into the agreement to protect the interests of Indian farmers and domestic industries from any sudden increase in imports.

Even so, the Congress has seized on the perceived lack of clarity among senior ministers to question the government’s credibility and coordination at a critical moment in India’s trade and foreign policy engagement with Washington.

With PTI inputs