New Delhi, February 11 Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged on Wednesday that the government has "sold Bharat Mata" (Mother India) through the India-US interim trade deal, and that it was a "wholesale surrender" in which India's energy security was handed over to America and the interests of farmers were compromised.
Participating in the debate on the Union Budget, he said that if the INDIA Bloc government had negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told US President Donald Trump that India should be treated as an equal.
"You have sold India. Are you not ashamed of selling India? You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata," he said while referring to the trade agreement.
The LoP said that energy security has been compromised by the India-US trade deal, and that the US will decide "whom we buy oil from."
Gandhi said that the interests of farmers have been compromised, and that farmers are facing a "storm" as agricultural products from the US will flood Indian markets.
He also alleged that the Indian textile industry is "finished."
The Congress leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had stated that the era of war is over. "But the fact is, we are moving into the era of war."
"Moving into a dangerous world, we have to understand our strengths, and the central strength of our country is our people," he pointed out.
He underlined the need to protect the country's people, data, food supply, and energy system.
