India’s response to Trump’s bombast must be strong
When politics or, worse, rhetoric eclipses prudence, the consequences are usually unpleasant. With his unconventional approach to politics and policy implementation, US President Donald Trump has embarked on a course that is sometimes charted more by bombast and impulse rather than facts and reason. His announcement of 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods a few days ago was a function of Trumpian peculiarity.
And more peculiar was his announcement on Wednesday to double the tariff to 50 per cent, citing India’s oil imports from Russia. Interestingly, the US tariff on Chinese imports was a lot less. While the initial 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports has come into effect on Thursday, the additional tariff will be levied three weeks later.
These tariff announcements were rash because they did not take into account the multifarious nature of deep and growing ties between the world’s two largest democracies. New Delhi’s reaction has been measured. It was only when the Trump administration’s statements and actions became intolerable that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong statement, saying the targeting of India was “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.” It went on to say that India would take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
Recently, the MEA also exposed the hypocrisy of the US and the European Union over ties with Russia. “The European Union in 2024 had a bilateral trade of Euro 67.5 billion in goods with Russia. In addition, it had trade in services estimated at Euro 17.2 billion in 2023. This is significantly more than India’s total trade with Russia that year or subsequently,” it said. Also, the US “continues to import from Russia uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV industry, fertilisers as well as chemicals.”
Thus, the Narendra Modi government has not only convincingly refuted Trump’s allegations but also exposed the doublespeak of the developed world. Still better, it has done so without indulging in pomposity, which was the characteristic feature of foreign policy in the past. The government must continue that tone and tenor.
To be sure, there are elements, both within the ruling dispensation and without, that would urge the government to up the ante. Such anti-American and anti-West activists and organisations are both on the Right and the Left, not to forget those in between. Recently, RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch, which is doctrinally opposed to America and capitalism, castigated Trump for his “coercive tactics” of threatening penalties against India for trade ties with Russia. “If Washington believes that such coercive tactics can sway India’s decisions, it must recognise that today’s India is not the India of a decade ago,” Manch co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said in a statement, obliquely crediting Modi with bold leadership.
And, of course, the Congress party, which for decades followed anti-America policies (some of which still extant), gleefully said that the “country is now bearing the cost of Narendra Modi’s ‘friendship’. It was referring to the ‘Howdy, Modi!’ event in Texas in September 2019.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi said that India would never compromise on the interest of farmers, fishermen and dairy sector. He went on to say that he was prepared to bear a significant personal cost if necessary. This statement came a day after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian imports. However, Modi must ensure that goading by professional anti-US activists and taunts by opponents do not colour his government’s foreign policy. But our response to Trump’s bombast must be measured and at the same time, strong.