‘Supposed’ trade deal with U.S. seems to have become an ordeal for India, says Congress

The Congress on Monday (November 3, 2025) criticised the Narendra Modi government over U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion that he used trade to prevent the escalation of an India–Pakistan conflict, saying that what was once touted as a breakthrough trade deal with Washington had turned into an “ordeal” for India.

“There was a time when we were told that India would be hosting the Quad Summit (U.S., Japan, Australia, and India) in November 2025. That is now not happening,” Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

“There was a time when we were told that India would be among the earliest to sign a trade deal with the U.S. That supposed deal has become an ordeal while exports to the U.S. decline, leading to the loss of livelihoods here,” Mr. Ramesh said.

The Congress communication chief also referred to Mr. Trump’s remarks in a recent U.S. television interview, in which the U.S. President once again claimed credit for halting Operation Sindoor, India’s military operation against Pakistan.

“If it wasn’t for tariffs and trade, I would not have been able to make the deals. As an example, India does a lot of business with us. They were going to have a nuclear war with Pakistan. The Prime Minister of Pakistan stood up the other day and said if Donald Trump did not get involved, many millions of people would have been dead right now,” Mr. Trump said in an interview to a U.S. television network.

The U.S. President added that he had warned both countries that unless they “worked out a deal fast”, they would “not do any business with the U.S.”. Mr. Trump claimed this led both nations to stop the conflict, saying it “would have been a nuclear war”.

Mr. Ramesh said that this was the 57th time Mr. Trump had repeated the claim. The Congress general secretary also pointed out that that the first announcement of “Operation Sindoor” being halted had come from Washington, not New Delhi.

However, India has consistently maintained that the understanding on the cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached after direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two countries.