At 5:37 PM IST on May 10 2025, it was US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who first made the announcement of the cease fire that brought Operation Sindoor to an unexpected halt. He had claimed that it was intervention by President Trump that made the ceasefire possible.
On May 21st 2026, Mr. Rubio was again the very first to announce that the President of Venezuela would be visiting India next week. This was even before India and Venezuela had even hinted or confirmed the news.
Today, Mr. Rubio has once again shocked the country by making a statement on X that the Modi Government has committed to purchasing $500 billion in U.S. goods over the next five years focusing on energy, technology, and agriculture.
India’s current yearly imports are $52.9 billion as of FY26 - Secretary Rubio’s statement implies that India will have to double its annual imports from the US.
We have five straight questions for the Prime Minister on this new development -
i. Countries like Malaysia have declared their trade agreements with the US ‘null and void’ after the US Supreme Court ruling which struck down the Trump-tariffs that formed the backdrop to these agreements. The Indo-US trade deal, signed in a hurry by the PM while he was under pressure from
@RahulGandhi’s expose in Parliament, saw the Modi Government unilaterally make enormous concessions that threaten our farmers and industries. The logic of this deal has now collapsed after the US Supreme Court’s verdict striking down the tariffs. Why has the Modi Government not had the courage to renounce this anti-people, dangerous trade deal like Malaysia and other countries have?
ii. The PM is on record asking citizens to cut down on domestic fuel consumption and overseas travel to save foreign exchange. Why has the Modi Government simultaneously agreed to record imports from the US at the same time?
iii.The Indian rupee has lost 12% of its value against the US dollar over the past 12 months. Will this surge in imports from the US not further cause the rupee to depreciate?
iv.Last week the Trump administration dismissed the criminal fraud charges against Mr Adani in the solar energy scam where Mr. Adani reportedly paid bribes for $265 million. Is Mr. Modi’s capitulation to the US on imports linked to the relief provided to the Modani empire by Mr. Trump?
v.Why is all the communication on Indian foreign policy – from the Operation Sindoor ceasefire and the halting of Russian oil and gas imports, to the Indo-US trade deal and the visit of the Venezuelan President - now coming first from Washington DC instead of New Delhi? Why have the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister renounced their responsibility to communicate to the Indian people and to the world the foreign policy of our sovereign state?
It appears that the compromised Prime Minister is keen on going the extra mile to appease and please his good friend.