PM Modi's 'huglomacy' has backfired, left India 'diplomatically isolated': Cong

Patna: In a scathing attack on the government, the Congress on Wednesday claimed that it has caused the "collapse" of India's foreign policy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "huglomacy" has backfired, leaving the country "diplomatically isolated" and unable to secure its national interests.

The assertion was in the political resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here that was chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, treasurer Ajay Maken, general secretaries KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar, among others.

In the resolution, the CWC said it is profoundly worried by the "collapse" of India's foreign policy.

"Successive governments since independence have closely guarded our country's strategic autonomy, which is now being squandered as the government mindlessly oscillates between appeasing the US and tilting towards China," the resolution said.

US President Donald Trump continues to claim that he used trade with the US as a bargaining chip to coerce India into abruptly halting Operation Sindoor in May 2025, a claim that the Modi government has refused to address with honesty, the Congress said.

Despite the bargain, however, Trump announced steep tariffs on Indian exports to the US ' wreaking havoc on key industries that employ millions of our workers, the CWC resolution said.

"The Government allowed the humiliation of hundreds of Indians as they were handcuffed, put on military aircraft and deported back to India by the USA. Shortly after, President Trump urged American technology companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple to stop hiring Indians," it said.

And now, lakhs of Indian citizens find their future in the US at risk because of the Trump administration's hostile changes to the H1B visa policy, the CWC said.

The government's attempt to address this crisis with its recent reactionary tilt towards Beijing is a "cure worse than the disease", the resolution said.

"China poses major threats to our territorial integrity, national security, and economic prosperity. Several official and unofficial sources have confirmed that the Chinese continue to occupy or deny India access to several key patrolling points and vast stretches of territory - despite the Prime Minister's shameful clean chit to China on June 19, 2020, when he brazenly claimed that 'Na koi hamari seema mein ghus aaya hai, nahi koi ghusa hua hai'," the Congress said.

The deep integration of Chinese military officials and weapon systems in the Pakistani armed forces, made evident during Operation Sindoor, poses a threat of strategic encirclement of our territory, it said.

Economically, mounting Chinese imports - doubling in the last five years - have rendered India dangerously dependent on China which is ever ready to weaponize trade for diplomatic gains, the CWC said.

"China's unannounced informal bans on key imports like fertilizers and rare earth minerals has broken the back of Indian farmers and MSMEs, hammered key sectors like agriculture, automobiles, electronics, defense, renewable energy, and telecom, and caused large-scale shut-downs and job losses," it said.

The CWC resolution also touched upon the recent unrest in Nepal, the ongoing state of turbulence in the neighbourhood and the strategic alignment of traditional allies like Maldives, Myanmar, Srilanka, and Bangladesh towards China, saying it spells disaster for our national interests.

"Prime Minister Modi's 'huglomacy' has backfired: far from boosting India's standing, it has left India diplomatically isolated and unable to secure its national interests," it said.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the very friends whom he boasts about as "my friends" are today putting India in numerous troubles.

In his opening remarks at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here, Kharge said the meeting is taking place at a time when India is going through a very challenging and worrying period both at the international and national levels.

"Our problems at the international level are the result of the diplomatic failure of Narendra Modi and his government," he alleged.

"The very friends whom the Prime Minister boasts about as 'my friends' are today putting India in numerous troubles," Kharge said without naming anyone.

His remarks come a day after Trump, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly, said China and India are the "primary funders" of the Ukraine war by continuing to purchase Russian oil.

The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

India has called the tariffs imposed by the US unjustified and unreasonable .

India has said that, like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security.

Also, last week, the Trump administration announced a one-time USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas.