The shibboleth “Abki baar, Trump sarkar (Next time, Trump government)” was resurrected on Wednesday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's detractors soon after US President Donald Trump announced plans for a 25 per cent tariff on India plus a penalty for buying military equipment and oil from Russia.

Seen as awkward in 2019 when first uttered by Modi in the run-up to a bitterly contested US presidential election, the slogan raised at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston once again became the Opposition’s favourite taunt.

“Donald Trump has just imposed a 25% tariff on India. He has also imposed a penalty. Modi campaigns for Trump. Gives out slogans like ‘Abki baar, Trump sarkar’. Hugs him like a long-lost brother. In return, Trump goes on to impose such harsh tariff on India. It is a catastrophic failure of foreign policy. An entire nation suffers from the consequences of one man’s ‘Friendship’,” the Congress said in a post on X as it filled its timeline with memes that poked fun at the much-vaunted “bromance”.

There has been no let-up in Trump repeating his claim of brokering peace between India and Pakistan in May during Operation Sindoor.

Trump repeated his claim on Tuesday, a few hours after the government, including the Prime Minister, sought to counter Trump in the Lok Sabha without taking the bait of leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to confront the President.

Although Trump said “India is our friend” while confirming the new tariff plan, his announcement is widely expected to put the country at a disadvantage compared to neighbouring nations like Bangladesh and Vietnam.

India is also being penalised for its long-standing dependable relationship with Russia, something that the government had hoped would not be an issue under the Trump White House, given his equation with President Vladimir Putin.

Pressure began mounting on the Modi government from outside the Congress to draw a red line.

“Where is India’s trade minister? Share a few words on the progress in the trade deal? The words in the US President’s post while announcing the tariff deserve a firm response from none less than the Hon PM of India,” said Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Going by the initial reaction of South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman, the Opposition was not alone in viewing Trump’s announcement as a blow to the India-US relationship that has been on an upward trajectory for the last three decades.

“Trump’s India tariff decision delivers another blow to a US-India relationship that’s been in a bit of a malaisesince the India-Pakistan conflict. A trade deal would’ve helped the relationship regain some equilibrium. Getting things back on track has now gotten a lot harder,” Kugelman said.