India, Feb. 12 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi "will always act in India's interest", whereas it was the Congress that "surrendered" the country's public distribution system before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2013, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her reply to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's accusation that the India-US trade deal has mortgaged the future of 1.4 billion Indians.

While responding to the debate on the Union Budget 2026-27 in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the finance minister said: "Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will always act in India's interest whereas it was the Congress which surrendered before WTO, sold the poor and farmers during its regime when it signed the Bali agreemen...