Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 9 (ANI): Criticising the recently announced India-US interim trade framework as 'deeply unfair' and akin to 'economic coercion', Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to 'take responsibility and immediately resign' for allowing the deal, which he claimed 'weakened India's independence and lowered country's standing in the world'.

'A Prime Minister who exposes the nation to pressure, weakens farmers' livelihoods, and damages India's dignity cannot continue in office. For the harm caused to India's sovereignty and self-respect, 'compromised' PM Narendra Modi must take responsibility and immediately resign,' the Karnataka CM said.

'The interim trade deal announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump did not come from equal and fair negotiations. It followed tariff threats, pressure tactics, and public warnings by the United States on India's trade and energy choices. Yielding under such pressure is not diplomacy but surrender,' said CM Siddaramaiah on X.

'By accepting these terms, Narendra Modi has weakened India's independence and lowered the country's standing in the world,' his post added.

The United States and India announced a framework for an Interim Agreement on reciprocal, mutually beneficial trade, reaffirming their commitment to a broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) launched by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 13, 2025.

Siddaramaiah said that in the new interim trade framework, US will continue to impose 18 per cent tariff on Indian goods, while India would be made to reduce its tariffs for American goods to zero, which will benefit American farmers while weakening Indian farmer's standing.

'Indian agriculture stands to lose heavily. Indian farmers will be forced to compete with cheap, subsidised American farm products, threatening the livelihoods of 72 crore farmers and farm labourers. This is not free trade. It is economic coercion,' the Karnataka CM posted on X.

He further claimed that the Prime Minister 'reduced India to a position of weakness', because 'protecting himself mattered more than protecting the country.'

'Serious legal cases involving his close friend Gautam Adani are ongoing in US courts. At the same time, international disclosures linked to the Epstein files - official records connected to investigations into a convicted sex offender and his powerful global network - have surfaced, in which the names of PM Modi and a senior Union Minister have appeared. We do not yet know what more may come out,' he said.

Earlier, the Centre had reiterated that Indian farmers will be protected under the India-US trade framework, with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the Centre has not 'opened up' the market for US apples under the interim trade pact, but instead has given them a 'quota' that is less than current apple imports, while fully protecting domestic apple growers.

Of the 5.5 lakh tonnes of apples that India exports, a large quantity of it comes from the United States, he said.

He had further taken a jibe at the Congress, saying that he is 'not worried' about them attacking and criticising the interim trade pact because those are based on 'falsehoods'.

Speaking exclusively to ANI, Goyal dismissed concerns that the Opposition was preparing to aggressively attack the government over the trade agreement. 'What is the difficulty? I've done a fantastic deal. We are celebrating the deal. They may attack on falsehoods about which I'm not worried,' he said.

The Central government has said that India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers' grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products. India also intends to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years. (ANI)