New Delhi [India], April 3 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi on Thursday morning launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the Donald Trump administration imposed reciprocal tariffs on India, saying that the parliament went on till 2:00 in the morning to "divert attention" from important issues.
He accused the central government of taking "refuge" in the name of Muslims to divert attention from important issues, such as the imposition of tariffs by the US administration.
"His dear friend Donald Trump was imposing a 26% tariff on India last night, so our Prime Minister had to keep the Parliament running until 2 a.m. To divert attention from important issues, the government once again had to take refuge in the name of Muslims." Pratapgarhi posted on X.
Trump announced new import tariffs on Wednesday (local time), outlining the rates to be imposed on countries around the world, with India facing a 26 per cent tariff.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "great friend," Trump said that India charges the US 52 per cent, and "we charge them almost nothing."
Trump's announcement came while he addressed the Make America Wealthy Again Event.
At the event, Trump said, "India very, very tough. The Prime Minister just left and is a great friend of mine, but you are not treating us right. They charge us 52 per cent, and we charge them almost nothing..."
Trump further said, "The United States charges other countries only a 2.4 tariff on motorcycles. Meanwhile, Thailand and others are charging much higher prices like 60%, India charges 70%, Vietnam charges 75% and others are even higher than that."
The US President further said that a 25 per cent tariff would be imposed on all foreign-made automobiles.
"Such horrendous imbalances have devastated our industrial base and put our national security at risk. I don't blame these other countries at all for this calamity. I blame former presidents and past leaders who weren't doing their job... Effective at midnight, we will impose a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles," Trump said.
The import tariffs on other major countries are China (34 per cent), European Union (20 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent), Taiwan (32 per cent), Japan (24 per cent), India (26 per cent), United Kingdom (10 per cent), Bangladesh (37 per cent), Pakistan (29 per cent), Sri Lanka (44 per cent), Israel (17 per cent).