'Angoor khatte hain': Piyush Goyal flags Cong's handling of free trade agreements amid India-EU deal criticism

Union Minister Piyush Goyal lashed out at the Congress party over its handling of free trade agreements (FTAs), particularly with China.

In his criticism, the Commerce Minister Goyal used the colloquial phrase "angoor khatte hain" (story of sour grapes) to describe the Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's reaction to the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) finalised earlier this week after negotiations lasting about two decades.

Goyal said that the Congress party had failed to finalise the agreement, despite starting discussions in 2006 and launching them in 2007. He slammed Ramesh, saying that he is considered "anti-development" and had stalled the country's development journey as Environment Minister.

“It's like angoor khate hai (story of sour grapes). Discussions started in 2006, launched in 2007, and abandoned in 2013. They didn't even have the courage or the will to finalise an agreement,” Goyal told news agency ANI.

Out of fear, the UPA and Congress governments could never take decisive action, he alleged. “And Jairam Ramesh himself is considered anti-development, you've seen it,” he said.

As an environment minister, Ramesh stalled the country's development journey, the Union Minister said.

"The Congress party's track record is that bad. Friends like Jairam Ramesh and parties like the Congress were pushing India to enter into an FTA with China. I want to ask them directly: How did you even think of letting India enter RCEP, which was effectively an FTA between China and India? How did you have the courage to put India at risk? This was a grave mistake by Congress. Congress must answer the people about how they were willing to harm India's interests through an FTA with China. This is the Congress track record," he said.

India announced a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union on Tuesday morning, following nearly two decades of negotiation. The deal paves the way for simplified trade in goods between New Delhi and the 27-nation bloc — a market of 2 billion consumers that accounts for 25% of the world's GDP.

Ramesh, former Union Environment Minister, had questioned the pact, tracing its origins to June 2007, when negotiations between India and the 27-nation EU began, followed by 16 rounds before talks were suspended in May 2013 and revived only in June 2022.

The Congress leader described the newly concluded agreement as “hugely hyped", warning that tariff reductions or relief on more than 96 per cent of EU exports to India could sharply raise imports and widen the trade deficit.

He also alleged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s failure to secure exemptions for aluminium and steel exporters from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, saying shipments had already fallen from $7 billion to $5 billion and could drop further after the mechanism’s enforcement from January 1, 2026.

"The Congress government had signed an FTA with Japan and Korea. That FTA was so bad that our exports to those countries haven't increased at all. The products on which they gave us duty concessions are not even reaching those markets, while their imports into India have doubled," he said

(With ANI inputs)