Rahul Gandhi brings Adani angle in tariff war

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot stand up to US President Donald Trump because of "the ongoing US investigation into Adani". Trump had on Tuesday said that he will raise tariffs on New Delhi "very substantially" over the next 24 hours because India is still buying Russian oil despite his warning against it.

"India, please understand: The reason PM Modi cannot stand up to President Trump despite his repeated threats is the ongoing US investigation into Adani. One threat is to expose the financial links between Modi, AA and Russian oil deals. Modi's hands are tied," Gandhi posted on social media.

While Gandhi wanted to make India understand his line of argument, it also left some sections of even Congress a bit confused given the contradiction in Trump threatening to impose more tariffs after India refused to give into his demands, including the push to make New Delhi end fuel purchase from Russia and Gandhi's suggestion of the PM not standing up to the US president's trade-deal demands.