New Delhi, March 17 With Malaysia reportedly declaring its trade agreement with the US null and void, the Congress on Tuesday asked why India is not as proactive as that country in deciding its own fate and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems content with sitting back and sacrificing India's pride.
Congress's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said that Malaysia has become the first country to declare its trade agreement with the US "null and void". Malaysia signed its deal with the USA on October 26, 2025.
"India does not even have a fully signed deal with the US like Malaysia. Yet the government has offered no clarity on the fate of this anti-India trade deal - only rumours have been circulated through anonymous 'sources'," he said.
"Adding insult to injury, the US has also launched two Section 301 investigations on India: one over alleged failures to curb imports made with forced labor, and the second over excess industrial capacity and manufacturing distortions," Khera said.
However, Modi and Piyush Goyal seem content with sitting back and sacrificing India's pride while Washington decides India's fate, he said.
"Why is India not as proactive as Malaysia in deciding its own fate?" Khera asked.
"Why is Modi biting the bullet for America? Is it because the USA has known his secrets since 1993?" Khera said.
Khera's remarks come a day after a senior government official said that the interim trade agreement between India and the US will be signed once the new global tariff architecture of America is in place.
"Because at the end of it, each country is doing a deal as a part of a package where one is at comparative advantage...vis a vis competitors," the official said.
India and the US last month announced the finalisation of a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement. According to that framework, the US had agreed to reduce tariffs on India to 18 per cent.
However, the tariff architecture in the US has changed following its Supreme Court ruling against President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs. After that, the US President imposed 10 per cent tariffs on all countries for 150 days from February 24.