Foreign policy not conducted on basis of personal friendships: Rahul slams Modi on US tariff, H-1B

In the backdrop of Trump administration's imposition of high tariff on India and actions on H-1B visa, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said foreign policy is not conducted on the basis of personal friendships.

Speaking during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Patna, Gandhi, as per sources, said that the Modi government had caused a "collapse" of Indian foreign policy.

He said the prime minister should stand up to Trump and keep India's national interests at the forefront.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe at Prime Minister Modi and said the very friends whom he boasts about as "my friends" are today putting India in numerous troubles.

In his opening remarks at the CWC meeting, Kharge said the meeting is taking place at a time when India is going through a very challenging and worrying period both at the international and national levels.

"Our problems at the international level are the result of the diplomatic failure of Narendra Modi and his government," he said.

"The very friends whom the prime minister boasts about as 'my friends' are today putting India in numerous troubles," Kharge said.

His remarks come a day after Trump, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, said China and India are the "primary funders" of the Ukraine war by continuing to purchase Russian oil.

The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the US unjustified and unreasonable.

The Trump administration has recently announced a one-time $1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas.