'Atmanirbhar now looks like Trump pe nirbhar': Cong's Kapil Sibal

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday took a swipe at the government over the India-US interim trade deal, saying despite its claims to make the country "atmanirbhar" (self-reliant), it seems to have become "Trump pe nirbhar" (dependent on Trump).

Sibal also accused the government of agreeing to align India's foreign and economic policy with America, saying and said that such a thing had not happened in India's history.

The former Union minister also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he inaugurated the new PMO, named Seva Teerth, and two buildings of the central secretariat - Kartavya Bhawan 1 and 2 -- asking whether he has fulfilled his "kartavya (duty)" towards the country.

 

"I was very happy to read the papers today, the PM has inaugurated the Seva Teerth and Kartvaya Bhawan. Earlier there was the naming of Kartavya Path. But in the last 11 years, I want to ask the PM, what kind of kartavya he fulfilled," Sibal said at a press conference.

"It is good to make buildings and we hear Satyameva Jayate but 'asatya' has been winning in the last 11 years," he said.

"We kept hearing atmanirbhar, now it seems it has become Trump pe nirbhar," Sibal added.

Slamming the BJP, Sibal said it knows how to win elections but does not know how to rule. Citing the US executive orders numbered 14066 and 14329, Sibal said the US has made it clear that if India buys Russian oil directly or indirectly, the punitive 25 per cent tariff will be reimposed.

Trump has said that he has "determined that India has taken significant steps to address the national (American) emergency described in executive order 14066" and to align sufficiently with the US on national security, foreign policy and economic matters, Sibal claimed.

"I want to ask this government why you agreed to this," the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said.

"What kartavya is the PM talking about, whose seva they want to do? This has never happened in history that our PM and our government has agreed that our foreign policy will be aligned to another country," Sibal said.

He also slammed the government over agreeing to buy US goods and services worth USD 500 billion in the next five years.

Sibal also urged the prime minister to speak out about the deal in Parliament. "He (Modi) should fill his kartavya," he added.