4 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 04:26 AM IST
First published on: Feb 3, 2026 at 12:31 PM IST
Hours after India and the United States agreed to a trade deal, Opposition leaders on Tuesday sought clarity from the government on the agreement, especially on US President Donald Trump’s claims that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil, increase the purchase of goods from the US, and reports that India had agreed to open up the agriculture sector to the US.
In an interview to The Indian Express, former Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, a senior Congress leader, outlines his concerns and views on the deal.
As a former Commerce and Industry Minister, how do you see the trade deal arrived at between India and the US?
We have an important partnership with the United States. It is both economic and strategic. There were issues that needed to be addressed with maturity. Since Parliament is in session, the government must make a statement giving the broad details of the agreement, irrespective of the legal scrubbing and other issues.
From the details that have emerged so far, are there any areas of concern?
We hope we have safeguarded the sensitive agricultural and dairy sectors, as well as the pharmaceuticals sector, including the generics. And importantly, we hope that we have entered into an understanding as a sovereign equal, not compromising our sovereign space, particularly our right as a nation to trade with any partner country that would include petroleum products from Russia. I hope there is no dilution of India’s stated policy of engaging with any strategic partner country, not at the cost of another strategic partner. That has been our time-tested policy.
Many Opposition leaders are questioning Donald Trump’s claim that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil and buy much more from the US, and that India will reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers against the US to zero.
That is the US President’s claim. It is for the government to clarify. The government must make a statement in Parliament that any understanding that has been reached is as a sovereign equal.
The US President has also said India has agreed to buy American products as part of the $500 billion trade target set in February last year during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House.
Again, I would like our government to come out with a statement on all these aspects. There are many compulsions on Donald Trump. The sword of the US Supreme Court is hanging on his neck. Any time the judgment may come and the tariffs could be declared illegal under US law. So that is one pressure. Secondly, US inflation has already reached 3%. It is the US consumers who are burdened with executive tariffs. Unemployment is rising in America. He has also damaged the economic partnership, or the trans-Atlantic partnership, with the EU. So, it has to be viewed in perspective and therefore, we hope we have reached a fair agreement safeguarding our interests and as a sovereign equal. We will have to see the fine details, which are important.