As the President of United States (US) arrived in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, raising the pitch on the visit of Donald Trump, the Congress today alleged that India has been reduced to a lowly buyer from America, rather than being a strategic partner.

Former Union Minister Manish Tewari taking to Twitter in a series of tweets  said, “India has been reduced to a lowly buyer state from a strategic Partner. India has no role in Afghan Peace Process.”

1/2 Only gainers of @realDonaldTrump 36 hour Tamasha commencing at noon today are going to be Boeing’s,Lockheed Martin’s,General Atomics & other merchants of death.India has been reduced to a lowly buyer state from a strategic Partner.India has no role in Afghan Peace Process,US.

Advertisement

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 24, 2020

Reiterating party’s stand Tiwari said that the only gainers from Donald Trump’s visit are arms manufacturers.

“Only gainers of Trump 36-hour Tamasha commencing at noon today are going to be Boeing’s, Lockheed Martin’s, General Atomics and other merchants of death,”  Tewari tweeted.

The Congress leader said that in three years as US President, Donald Trump has gutted the Global Multilateral order, walked out of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), virtually torpedoed NATO, insulted America’s closest allies, unleashed suppressed bigoted and racist tendencies in US. He prefers deals over vision.

Further commenting on India-US relations, Tewari said, “Pak Special Relationship is back on track. Quad China except for an airy fairy Blue Dot network there is nothing to counter BRI in substantive terms. US-Iran Tensions hurt Indian Oil Refineries the most. Quad is a complete non-starter. India falls in between the cracks of…”

In another tweet, Tewari said, ” Visit is a fluff. A Specticalization of Diplomacy designed to detract from the fact that the NDA/BJP Govt has failed to secure India’s interest and the last big Idea in the relationship was in 2005 – India-US Nuclear Deal that smashed Nuclear apartheid.

1/4 Cent-Com qua Paf-Com.Visit is a fluff. A Specticalization of Diplomacy designed to detract from the fact that the NDA/BJP Govt has failed to secure India’s interest and the last big Idea in the relationship was in 2005 – India – US Nuclear Deal that smashed Nuclear apartheid

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) February 24, 2020

Earlier, the Congress on Sunday, asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would raise with him the issue of easing H-1B visas, restoration of GSP status, national security, oil prices and steel exports as the US has already made clear that no ‘big trade-deal’ is going to be signed during the visit.

Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala took to Twitter and hit at the Modi government. He raised concern about why Prime Minister Modi is silent about “India First” as President Trump talked of “America First”.

Earlier, on February 12, Congress cautioned the government on US President Donald Trump’s visit to India by saying that the government should take utmost care to ensure that it did not turn into a Trump re-election campaign.

Congress highlighted three aspects that it expects from the government to be kept in mind, which are the sovereignty, self-respect and national interest of India.

“We feel this visit should not become a link to the re-election campaign of the US President. The outcome of this visit should be in the national interest,” said senior Congress leader Anand Sharma.

He further added, “The Congress understands Indo-US relations and supports it… the Congress wants the GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) regime to be brought back as Indian manufacturers are suffering and it has impacted small workers in the country.”

“As Trump has said, he has good relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he has been assured that he (US President) will be welcomed by 50-70 lakh people during his visit. In such a situation, we hope that the pending issues of the country like H1B1 visa, GSP etc will be resolved,” he said.

The US President, his wife, daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner along with a large delegation have arrived in India today and will stay till tomorrow.

President Donald Trump  arrived in Ahmedabad this afternoon. He went to the Sabarmati Ashram along with PM Modi and wife Melania. From there he went on a roadshow to the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad’s Motera.

From there, the US President and the First Lady will then head to Agra where they will visit the Taj Mahal.

Later in the day, they will fly to New Delhi and have a full programme on Tuesday.

The Tuesday programme will include ceremonial events, bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister, a business event with Indian investors, with a special focus on companies that are investing in manufacturing in the US.

Donald Trump will also have a meet-and-greet with the US embassy staff and a meeting with his Indian counterpart Ram Nath Kovind.

To conclude the visit, there will be a state dinner at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, India hopes to sign a trade deal with the United States during Trump’s visit. However, the US president said on Wednesday that he might postpone the trade agreement till the US presidential elections.

As per reports, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who has been negotiating a trade deal with India, is not travelling with Trump on the India trip. In fact, he had cancelled his earlier trip to India as well.

This is US President Trump’s first visit to India. It will be his fifth meeting with PM Modi in eight months.