As the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, the Congress on Saturday (February 21, 2026) alleged that the India-U.S. interim trade deal is an “ordeal” the country is being subjected to by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “desperation and surrender”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also claimed that if Prime Minister Modi had not been so “desperate” to protect his fragile image and waited just 18 days more, Indian farmers would have been saved their agony and distress, and Indian sovereignty would have been protected.
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“Yesterday after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his tariffs policy, President Trump declared that (i) Mr. Modi is his great friend; (ii) the India-U.S. trade deal will continue as announced; (iii) he had personally halted Operation Sindoor on May 10 2025 by threatening to increase tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. if India did not halt Operation Sindoor,” Mr. Ramesh said on X.
On February 2 2026, President Trump was the first to announce that the India-U.S. trade deal had been finalised and said that “out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi and, as per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a trade deal between the United States and India”, the Congress leader said.
“What forced Prime Minister Modi to ensure President Trump announced the India-US trade deal in the night of February 2…?” Mr. Ramesh asked. “What had happened in the Lok Sabha that afternoon that had compelled Mr. Modi to get so desperate and reach out to his good friend in the White House to create a diversion?”
“The India-U.S. trade deal is really an ordeal that India is being subjected to by the Prime Minister’s desperation and surrender,” he said.
His remarks came after Donald Trump said there is no change in the trade deal with India and emphasised that “the India deal is on”.
“I think my relationship with India is fantastic and we’re doing trade with India. India pulled out of Russia. India was getting its oil from Russia. And they pulled way back at my request, because we want to settle that horrible war where 25,000 people are dying every month,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference Friday (February 20) in the White House hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his sweeping tariffs.
Mr. Trump said his relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is great. He then went on to repeat the claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan last summer using tariffs.
Earlier this month, as the U.S. and India announced they reached a framework for an Interim Agreement on trade, Mr. Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25% punitive tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil, with the U.S. President noting the commitment by New Delhi to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchase American energy products.
Under the trade deal, Washington will charge a reduced reciprocal tariff on New Delhi, lowering it from 25% to 18%.
When asked about the deal with India, Mr. Trump said, “Nothing changes. They’ll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs. So deal with India is they pay tariffs. This is a reversal for what it used to be, as you know, India and I think Prime Minister Modi is a great gentleman, a great man, actually, but he was much smarter than the people that he was against in terms of the United States, he was ripping us off.
“So we made a deal with India. It’s a fair deal now, and we are not paying tariffs to them, and they are paying tariffs. We did a little flip,” Mr. Trump said.
The Congress on Friday (February 20) hailed the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down President Donald Trump’s global tariffs and said India may not have found itself cornered into a “one-sided” trade deal had the government waited just 18 more days.
In a post on X, Mr. Ramesh had said, “Hats off to the U.S. Supreme Court for striking down President Trump’s entire tariff strategy! Quite an amazing decision given its ideological composition.
“A 6-3 verdict is decisive. The American system of checks and balances still seems to be working,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday (February 20) struck down President Donald Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs, handing him a significant loss on an issue crucial to his economic agenda.
The 6-3 decision centred on tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the sweeping reciprocal tariffs Mr. Trump levied on nearly every other country.
The majority found that the Constitution very clearly gives the Congress the power to impose taxes, which include tariffs.
Published – February 21, 2026 09:47 am IST
