'Total silence from PM Modi': Congress seeks 'explicit answer' from govt on Trump's 'zero-tariff deal' claim

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "total silence" and sought an "explicit answer" from the government after Donald Trump claimed India has offered the United States a "zero-tariff deal" on a reciprocal basis.Also Read | Donald Trump says India has offered a trade deal with ‘literally no tariffs’"The commerce minister is in Washington DC and President Trump has made yet another grand announcement from Doha. There is 'total chuppi' from our PM. What has he agreed to and what linkage is there between this and the stoppage of Operation Sindoor?" Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, wrote on X. Congress MP Manish Tewari posted, "Is it a fact that India has offered a zero tariff deal to the United States? That needs an explicit answer from the government."Commerce minister Piyush Goyal will leave for the United States on Friday to commence advanced trade talks, which have been going on between the two sides at the official level.What Trump saidEarlier, the US president claimed India has proposed to him a deal with "basically zero tariffs" on American goods. However, he didn't provide specifics."They (India) have offered us a deal where they're basically willing to charge us no tariff literally," he said while addressing a news conference in Doha.In April, the Republican leader had imposed on India a 26% reciprocal tariff, which he later suspended for 90 days as negotiations showed signs of progress.Meanwhile, Trump also mentioned he "encouraged" Apple CEO Tim Cook to raise production in the US rather than expanding manufacturing in India."I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India," he stated.