"Will PM ask Putin about unsustainable trade deficit between two countries" Congress hits out at PM Modi

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to Russia asking a series of questions which included whether the PM would question Russian President Vladimir Putin about the unsustainable trade deficit between the two countries.
The Congress leader also asked whether the meeting of PM Modi and the Russian President meant cooling of relations between the two countries. He also asked about 50 Indian youths who are fighting in the Russian army due to unemployment in India.
"I have raised three questions to the non-biological Prime Minister. Dr Manmohan Singh and Putin and the Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev had met 16 times in 10 years. Putin and Modi have met 11 times. So does this mean some cooling of relations between Russia and India? That's the first question," he told ANI.
"Second, our imports from Russia are almost $46 billion. Our exports to Russia are hardly about $3.5 billion. This is a completely unsustainable trade deficit. So what is the non-biological PM doing? Will he raise the issue of this unsustainable trade deficit which is hurting our industry, which is hurting our trade?" Jairam Ramesh added.
"And third and most important issue is that 50 Indian youths are fighting in the Russian army. It means there are no jobs here. They are desperate, they are looking for jobs and they have to go and become agniveers for Russia. And two of them have died. So who is recruiting them? Which is this contractor? What are its political links? We can't give jobs to our youth... So will the non-biological PM raise this issue with Putin?" he said.
PM Modi left for a two-nation visit to Russia and Austria on Monday stating that the visit to the two countries will present an opportunity for India to deepen ties with these nations.
In his departure statement, PM Modi said, "Over the next three days, I will be in Russia and Austria. These visits will be a wonderful opportunity to deepen ties with these nations, with whom India has time-tested friendship. I also look forward to interacting with the Indian community living in these countries."
When asked about Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's visit to Manipur, Jairam Ramesh said that this is the third visit of Rahul Gandhi to show people in a sensitive way that their pain is our pain.
"Non-biological Prime Minister is going to Moscow and Rahul ji, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, is going to Manipur. This is his third visit. In the last 17 months, the Prime Minister has not said anything about Manipur. He has not met the Chief Minister of Manipur, has not met the political parties of Manipur, MPs, MLAs and he has not gone to Manipur at all, not even for 45 hours," he said.
"This is the third visit of Rahul Gandhi to show people in a sensitive way that your pain is our pain. The Supreme Court has said that the constitutional machinery, the constitutional system, has collapsed there and we cannot trust the state government. This is what the Supreme Court said, these are their comments," the Congress leader added.
Rahul Gandhi reached Imphal to meet the victims of violence at the relief camps in the state on Monday.
He is scheduled to meet Governor Anusuiya Uikey at 5.30 pm. after which he will address a press conference at the Manipur Congress office at 6.15 pm.
He visited the Jiribam Higher Secondary School relief camp and offered support to the victims of violence there.
The official handle of the Congress party took to a microblogging site and posted on X, "LoP Rahul Gandhi visits Jiribam Higher Secondary School relief camp, meets victims of violence and offers support in their darkest hour. His third visit to Manipur post-violence shows his unwavering commitment to the people's cause."