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The India-U.S. interim commercialized deal looks much similar a "pre-committed acquisition agreement" that overturns each rule of reciprocity, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said connected Tuesday (February 10, 2026) and slammed Union Ministers S. Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal for playing "ping pong" erstwhile questions are posed.
India-U.S. commercialized woody updates
Initiating a statement successful the Lok Sabha connected the Union Budget, Mr. Tharoor said the government’s assertion that India has secured a "better deal" than China, Vietnam, oregon different Asian economies does not withstand scrutiny.
“While India whitethorn person obtained tariff reductions of 1 oregon 2 percent points, nary East Asian system has agreed to deliberately dilute its commercialized surplus with the United States done guaranteed acquisition commitments," helium said.
The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram asked however 1 could talk of a "reciprocal tariff" of 18% connected 1 broadside and 0% connected the other. "It looks little similar a escaped commercialized statement and much similar a pre-committed acquisition statement that overturns each rule of reciprocity," helium said.
At a clip erstwhile India’s full bilateral commercialized with the U.S. stands astatine astir $130 cardinal and a commercialized surplus of astir $45 billion, the authorities has amazingly promised to bargain $500 cardinal worthy of American goods implicit 5 years, helium said.
Mr. Tharoor argued that this efficaciously converts a surplus into a semipermanent shortage by enforcement assurance alternatively than by marketplace demand.
"No large system has ever neutralised its ain commercialized leverage successful this manner. While the U.S. continues to enforce import tariffs of up to 18% connected Indian exports, we person committed ourselves to little tariffs to near-zero levels, unfastened agriculture, dilute information localisation, soften intellectual-property safeguards, and adjacent redirect strategical vigor imports, particularly distant from Russia, to conscionable acquisition targets.
"This is not strategical balancing; it is economical pre-emption," the Congress MP said.
He said the Parliament has neither been told however farmers, MSMEs, and the home manufacture volition beryllium protected nor why India has "voluntarily surrendered" its negotiating powerfulness without securing proportional marketplace access oregon argumentation abstraction successful return.
"I cognize the authorities volition accidental hold for the last agreement, it is coming successful mid-March, but fto them beryllium alert that these concerns beryllium close now," helium said.
"The government’s assertion that India has secured a 'better deal' than China, Vietnam, oregon different Asian economies does not withstand scrutiny. While India has obtained tariff reductions of 1 oregon 2 percent points arsenic compared to them, nary East Asian system has agreed to deliberately dilute its commercialized surplus with the United States done guaranteed acquisition commitments," helium said.
On the contrary, China, Vietnam, and respective ASEAN countries person really expanded their commercialized surpluses with the U.S., adjacent amid heightened commercialized tensions, Mr. Tharoor said.
"This ambiguity has a nonstop bearing connected the credibility of the fund itself. When some the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the Minister of External Affairs were questioned connected these commitments, they offered nary wide mentation of their scale, timeline, oregon fiscal implications.
"The crushed I notation this successful the discourse of the Budget is that cardinal budgetary assumptions, connected commercialized balances, outer financing needs, and wide macroeconomic stability, remainder connected accusation that Parliament does not person and has not been given," helium said.
A Budget framed amid specified uncertainty is not conscionable incomplete, but it asks this House to o.k. numbers without knowing the obligations that whitethorn soon overtake them from this commercialized agreement, Mr. Tharoor said.
"When the 2 Ministers play ping pong with each other, saying it is not successful their mandate to reply the questions, each 1 attributes it to the other," helium said successful an evident swipe astatine Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Goyal.
"That looks similar a alternatively disappointing game, arsenic erstwhile nary Minister claims ownership of thing similar this, accountability disappears and Parliament is near staring astatine a Budget that conceals obligations that the authorities seems to deficiency the courageousness to admit openly," helium said.
Last week, India and the U.S. announced successful a associated connection the model for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade. Under this, the U.S. has agreed to trim the 25% reciprocal tariffs connected Indian goods to 18%.
It has already eliminated the punitive 25% tariff connected India, which was imposed successful August past twelvemonth for purchasing Russian crude.
The Congress has alleged that the interim Indo-U.S. commercialized pact is "not a woody but a surrender" of the country's self-esteem and interests, and is simply a betrayal of India and its people.
