‘They didn’t have courage to sign agreements’: Piyush Goyal slams Congress over India-EU FTA criticism

The Congress party has criticised the Narendra Modi government on several occasions in the last few months over tariffs imposed by the US on India. Its Lok Sabha MP, Rahul Gandhi, even made the ‘dead economy’ charge against the central government.

On Friday, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal hit back at the Congress party, alleging its negative mindset has held the country back for decades.

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Using the recently concluded India-EU free trade deal as his ammunition, Goyal referred to Gandhi’s ‘dead economy’ charge and said one must listen to the statements made by the presidents of the EU Commission and Council. The duo was on a visit to India this week for Republic Day celebrations and to sign the historic FTA.

“You heard the statements from the EU Commission and the EU Council Presidents. There was so much enthusiasm among them for improving relations with India. There are people within the country, like Rahul Gandhi and Jairam Ramesh, who belittle their own country and view its achievements with a negative mindset. The Congress party’s negative mindset will no longer hold the country back. That very mindset kept this country backward for decades. Now, no sensible person in India will fall for the Congress party’s deception,” Goyal said in an interview with ANI news agency.

#WATCH | Responding to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi’s dead economy remark, Union Minister Piyush Goyal says in an interview with ANI, “… You heard the statements from the EU Commission and the EU Council Presidents. There was so much enthusiasm in them for improving relations… pic.twitter.com/AshcTAGXKK

— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2026

Hitting back at Congress leader Jairam Ramesh’s ‘hugely hyped deal’ remark, Goyal sought to remind the opposition party that the talks on the FTA with the EU were first started and abandoned during the UPA regime.

“Angoor khatte hai. They started negotiations in 2006, launched it in 2007, and abandoned it in 2013. They simply didn’t have the courage to sign agreements. Jairam Ramesh, in particular, is considered anti-development. The Congress party’s track record is so bad that friends like Jairam Ramesh and parties like the Congress were forcing India to enter into an FTA with China. I want to ask them this question: How could you even think of advocating for India to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which was essentially an FTA between China and India? How did the Congress commit this sin? By doing so, they would have completely undermined India’s interests,” the minister alleged.

The minister also claimed that the FTAs inked by the Congress-led UPA government with Japan and South Korea had not yielded much benefits. He said the exports to these two countries did not increase, while their imports into India doubled.