Bengaluru: With the Congress mocking the BJP-led NDA government over the proposed trade deal with the US, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said India negotiates from a position of strength and not under deadlines. He also accused the Congress of “negotiating and signing agreements that were not in the national interest” during the party-led UPA government’s tenure.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, had attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Indo-US trade deal, claiming the PM will “meekly bow” to the tariff deadline set by the President Trump administration. “India does not negotiate under deadlines. We negotiate keeping national interest in mind, and national interest is paramount in all our engagements across the world,” Goyal, Commerce and Industry minister, told reporters here.

“After the Modi government came to power, we have signed free trade agreements with Mauritius, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the four-nation EFTA (European Free Trade Association) grouping—Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein—and now with the UK last month.”

According to him, India continues to engage with other developed nations, including the EU bloc of 27 countries, the US, Oman, Peru, and Chile. “Today, India negotiates from a position of strength. We are self-confident and can compete with anybody in the world. . This is not the weak India under Congress and the UPA, which signed agreements that were not in the national interest,” he claimed. Goyal had earlier stated that India would accept the proposed trade deal with the US only when it is fully finalised and in the national interest.