New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday strongly objected to the offensive statements made by US President Donald Trump and his trade advisor Peter Navarro about India. He said there was no need to use such language as the two countries are growing closer.
Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said India was being treated unfairly in the tariff imposition case. He said, “This unfair treatment has certainly generated a very strong reaction in India, as has Trump’s own language in his statements and tweets.”
Following this, his advisor (Peter) Navarro’s highly offensive statements sparked strong reactions across the country. The Congress MP said, “If there are no significant problems in a 30-year-old relationship that is now becoming even deeper, why would you use such language about India? This was not appreciated at all.”
Taking aim at the US President, Tharoor said that Trump considers tariffs a magic tool that can solve many problems, such as reducing his country’s deficit and advancing his political agenda. Tharoor stressed that Trump wants to strengthen his political base, where American manufacturers employ American workers to speed up the manufacturing process. He said, “The US President wants to make imported goods more expensive by imposing tariffs on them so that American manufacturers are encouraged to work in the US.”
The Congress MP said, “What went wrong initially is that Trump thinks tariffs are the magic weapon to solve many of his problems. He thinks that many things that are made in America are now being imported. He wants to make it more expensive so that American manufacturers work more in the US and employ American workers, who are his base (called the mega constituency).”
Earlier, White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, justifying Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 50 percent tariff on imports from India, made a “caste-based comment” on the issue and accused the country’s Brahmins of “profiteering at the expense of the Indian people.”
During an interview with Fox News, Navarro described India as “a laundry for the Kremlin,” accusing New Delhi of fostering trade imbalances and geopolitical alliances that are contrary to US interests. He criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy, calling him a great leader, and said that India’s engagement with Russia and China undermines its position as the world’s largest democracy.
