Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday delivered a three-point message to US President Donald Trump, saying India must be treated as an equal in any
negotiation as he cornered the central government on the recently concluded India-US trade deal. Citing data sovereignty, energy security and protection of farmers as non-negotiables, Gandhi said no country, including the US, should expect India to compromise on its core interests. LoP Rahul Gandhi outlined what the Opposition bloc INDIA would say to US President Trump if it negotiated the trade deal with the Trump administration. "If the INDIA alliance was negotiating with President Trump. I will tell you what we would say. The first thing we would say is President Trump, the most important thing in this equation is Indian data. You want to protect your dollar? We are your friends. We appreciate you. We want to help you protect your dollar. But please remember that if you want to protect your dollar, the biggest asset that can protect your dollar is lying with the Indian people," said Gandhi. He added, "President Trump, if you want access to this data, then please understand that you are going to talk to us as an equal. You're not going to talk to us as if we are your servants. Second thing we would say is Mr Trump, please understand that our energy security is our energy security. No matter what happens, we are going to protect our energy security. The third thing we would say is, President Trump, we understand that you have a voter base, an agricultural voter base. We understand that you need to protect your farmers, but we will also protect our farmers..." Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi accused the central government of selling 'Bharat Mata' and dubbed the India-US interim trade agreement as one-sided which has hurt the interests of the farmers. "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. He said the interests of the farmers have been compromised as agricultural products from the US will flood Indian markets. He also alleged that the Indian textile industry is "finished".
