PM Modi Was Unwilling To Go Ahead With Trade Deal, US Threatened Him: Rahul Gandhi

Barnala: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unwilling to go ahead with the India-US trade deal, and America had threatened him to sign it, which is the reason behind its delay for four months.

"America wanted to enter the agricultural sector, and India was refusing it. No one, from the Prime Minister, the BJP and Congress, wanted to do this deal. Now the question is, why did the Prime Minister do the work in 15 minutes that he was postponing for four months? He was threatened by the US, he said at a rally in Punjab's Barnala.

He said some farmers have five acres, and some have two acres of land. "In contrast, American farmers have 500, 1,000 and even 5,000 acres of cultivable land, which are fully mechanised. Narendra Modi has opened the doors for American agriculture. Farmers of Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Odisha will all be ruined," he added.

Gandhi said the names of Anil Ambani and Hardeep Singh Puri have appeared in the Epstein files released by the US administration. "These names have been kept to scare the Prime Minister. There are 35 lakh more files, in which the truth of Narendra Modi is hidden. America and its president, Donald Trump, are threatening Modi ji that they will release these files," he claimed.

The Lok Sabha Opposition leader said the BJP has invested all the money it has earned in the last 10 to 15 years in companies run by Adani. "Adani is the special money-carrying vehicle of the BJP. They give it to Adani everywhere. Whatever money is there, all goes to Adani, which is then used for political purposes. There are thousands of shell companies. America has filed criminal charges against Adani. There is the Epstein case on one hand, and Adani's case on the other. Narendra Modi is stuck in the middle," he added.

Gandhi talked about four things that came to light in this deal. "When almonds, walnuts, cotton and soybeans come from America, there will be a storm. Apart from this, Prime Minister Modi has given India's data to America. He has guaranteed Trump that India will buy American products worth Rs nine lakh crore every year," he added.

He claimed Modi has told America that they will buy oil from wherever it says. "We will neither buy from Russia nor from Iran. We will buy from wherever America tells us. If you ask us from America, we will not buy from there, but from Saudi Arabia or Venezuela, we will buy from there," he said.

Gandhi said former Army chief MM Naravane wrote that Chinese tanks were coming to India. "I called the Defence Minister and asked what his orders were. But he did not respond. When the tanks arrived at 8 pm, I called the NSA, but there was no response. I asked the External Affairs Minister, but there was no response. I called the Defence Minister again and told him that Chinese troops are entering the country, and I have been asking for two hours, but no one is answering. The Prime Minister is not picking up my phone," he said.

According to Gandhi, the Defence Minister must have called the Prime Minister, but the latter did not tell him what to do. "Naravane is ordered to do whatever you think is right. Prime Minister Modi did not fulfil his responsibility and left him. Naravane wrote in his book that he felt he was standing alone. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Defence Minister gave him any orders," he added.

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