The Congress on Sunday called for US trade representative Jamieson Greer’s upcoming visit to be put off to send a message that the country would not be coerced by “bullies” into an “unfair” trade deal.
“In light of the Rubio-Jaishankar interaction, the US Supreme Court’s overturning of President Trump’s tariff system, and the patent unfairness of the trade deal, the least India must do is to put off the visit of the US Trade Representative. Any self respecting nation will do more than mere phone calls and press statements to defend its sovereignty against bullies,” Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh posted on X.
The Congress’s demand comes against the backdrop of the death of three Indian sailors in a US Navy strike on the Palau-flagged MT Settebello in the Gulf of Oman on June 10. This is the third merchant vessel with Indians among the crew to be struck by the US since June 8, ostensibly to prevent them from carrying Iranian oil.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Saturday told external affairs minister S. Jaishankar over phone that “violations of the US blockade and the illicit transport of Iranian oil will not be tolerated”.
The US state department's statement on the phone call did not mention any expression of regret over the killing of the Indian sailors.
Ramesh pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was expected to meet US President Donald Trump at the G7 meet in France this week. “The question that is uppermost on the minds of all Indian citizens is whether PM Modi will raise (i) India’s strongest condemnation to the killing of three Indian sailors in a US attack on a ship off the Oman Coast; and (ii) the threatening and really unacceptable language used by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his conversation with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on June 12th, 2026,” he said.
Referring to Greer’s upcoming visit to “clinch the Indo-US Trade Deal”, Ramesh pointed out how countries such as Malaysia declared their trade agreements with the US “null and void” after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs that formed the backdrop to these agreements.
“The Modi Government has not only failed to renounce this trade deal which endangers the futures of crores of India’s farmers but has instead sat mute and helpless while Secretary of State Rubio has proclaimed that the Modi Government has committed to purchasing $500 billion in US goods over the next five years — effectively doubling our annual US imports,” he posted.
Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi wrote on X: “Read their words: ‘Comply immediately with the orders of the US military.’ No violation ‘will be tolerated’. A free country would never tolerate such language. But our Compromised PM? Silent. They listen like an obedient servant and comply with the orders. Compromised PM will not defend the country’s honour — because those who insult the country are under their control.”