Overview
- The former commerce minister accused the finance minister of deliberately misinforming Parliament to justify the government's interim India–US trade deal.
- Sitharaman had alleged the UPA 'sold out' India’s food-security interests at Bali in 2013, a charge Sharma says is false and contradicted by official WTO documents.
- Sharma contends India led a coalition of developing countries at Bali to secure protections for MSP-linked public stockholding through a negotiated peace clause.
- He notes the peace clause protects such programs from WTO disputes on an interim basis while members work toward a permanent solution that remains unresolved.
- The confrontation followed Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the Modi government bowed to US pressure on the interim pact, which Sitharaman rejected in the Lok Sabha.