Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump\u2019s recent remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tariffs on India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a swipe at the central government, invoking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi\u2019s leadership during the 1971 war.<\/p>\n
Gandhi shared an old video of himself on social media platform X, in which he had contrasted Prime Minister Modi\u2019s approach to the United States with that of Indira Gandhi, claiming she had stood firm despite pressure from Washington during the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Accompanying the post, Gandhi wrote, \u201cFarq samjho, sir ji!\u201d (Understand the difference, sir).<\/p>\n
Trump, speaking on Tuesday at the House GOP Member Retreat, said that Prime Minister Modi was \u201cnot that happy\u201d with him due to tariffs imposed by the US on India over its purchases of Russian oil. He also claimed that Modi had personally sought a meeting with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a very good relationship with him. He\u2019s not that happy with me because they\u2019re paying a lot of tariffs now\u2026 but they have reduced it very substantially from Russia,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
In the video shared by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader alleged that Prime Minister Modi had \u201csurrendered\u201d following a phone call from Trump during a past India-Pakistan military standoff. He contrasted this with Indira Gandhi\u2019s response in 1971, when, according to him, she did not relent despite the US sending its Seventh Fleet to the region. \u201cThis is the difference,\u201d Gandhi had said in the video.<\/p>\n
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh also criticised the prime minister, sharing a clip of Trump\u2019s remarks. \u201cFrom Namaste Trump to Howdy Modi to Donald bhai and now this. What next?\u201d Ramesh posted on X.<\/p>\n
Trump has imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on India, including a 25 per cent levy linked to India\u2019s purchase of Russian oil. He also claimed that India had been waiting for five years for Apache helicopters and said the US was now expediting the process. \u201cIndia ordered 68 Apaches,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, the Congress had criticised the government over Trump\u2019s comments that Washington could raise tariffs on India \u201cvery quickly\u201d, stating that events such as \u201cNamaste Trump\u201d and \u201cHowdy Modi\u201d and public displays of camaraderie with the US president had yielded little benefit for India.<\/p>\n
The ruling BJP has not yet responded to the latest remarks by Congress leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Against the backdrop of US President Donald Trump\u2019s recent remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tariffs on India, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a swipe at the central government, invoking former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi\u2019s leadership during the 1971 war. Gandhi shared an old video of himself on social media platform X, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,31,37],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"category-national","9":"category-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n