New Delhi [India], August 7 : Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar criticised the Narendra Modi-led government, alleging that United States President Donald Trump continues to "belittle" India and that the Indian leadership has failed to respond appropriately.
Speaking to ANI, Kumar said India is being "belittled" repeatedly and questioned the leadership's inability to respond to the decisions taken by the Trump administration, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I feel that Trump's second term means belittling India all the time. Our country's leadership - from the Prime Minister to his ministers - has no person with the capacity. We should retaliate and give an answer. The country's Prime Minister has the fourth-largest following on 'X'. After what happened in Pahalgam, there was an India-Pakistan war situation. After that, Trump said something. He has not yet responded. The world feels this, other countries feel this, that our leadership is very weak," the CPI(M) MP said.
"The country's interest is the highest. Therefore, there should be retaliation, there should be discussion," he added.
Slamming the United States for "double standard" for imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said US President Donald Trump's move will make "our goods unaffordable to a lot of people in America."
He pointed out that while China imports various materials, including more Russian oil than India, the country has received a "90-day break" from the US tariffs.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi slammed the United States for imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on India for buying Russian oil, terming it "economic blackmail" to bully New Delhi into an unfair trade deal.
US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on August 6 imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India. Trump cited matters of national security and foreign policy concerns, as well as other relevant trade laws, for the increase, claiming that India's imports of Russian oil, directly or indirectly, pose an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
Terming the United States' move to impose additional tariffs on India over its oil imports from Russia as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declared that New Delhi will take "all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
In further development, a senior United States Administration Official told ANI that there is simply "no comparison" between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil and the modest US imports of Russian goods.
In response to a question, the US official told ANI, "There is simply no comparison between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil, and the modest U.S. imports of Russian goods, which amount to less than 1% of the value of Indian imports".