Congress leader and former minister Shashi Tharoor has reacted to a top US official's comment that India has been “a bit recalcitrant” in trade talks.
“I hear some people are accusing India of being 'recalcitrant'. I say, far better to be recalcitrant, than to be tractable, submissive or acquiescent to injustice,” read an X post by Shashi Tharoor, a former global diplomat who recently led a multi-party delegation from India to the US after Operation Sindoor.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent's remarks last week calling India recalcitrant — the word ‘means having an uncooperative attitude’ — came just days after 25 per cent tariffs on Indian exports to the US came into effect, and President Donald Trump threatened another 25 per cent as “penalty” for the country's oil purchase from Russia, which is waging war in Ukraine.
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India has strongly defended its right to decide who it trades with. It has pointed out that the West too has been buying major items from Russia in spite of the war being on.
{{/usCountry}}India has strongly defended its right to decide who it trades with. It has pointed out that the West too has been buying major items from Russia in spite of the war being on.
{{/usCountry}}Talks for a trade deal may be directly hindered, though, by the rhetoric, especially when there was another red flag, on Thursday, for India. Sources said the US might hike the tariffs further if Trump's talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for August 15, don't go well.
Bessent on Wednesday echoed the same and warned that the US could increase the secondary tariffs on India if "things don't go well" between Trump and Putin during Friday's meeting.
"We've put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could if things don't go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up," he told Bloomberg TV.
Tharoor's response to Trump's 50% tariff
Last week, Tharoor had responded to Trump's double tariff move against India and suggested that New Delhi should retaliate by raising tariffs on the US to 50 per cent.
"We need to ask them, do they not value our relationship? If India doesn't matter to them, they should also not matter to us,” the Congress MP said.
Noting that India's average tariffs on American goods currently stood at 17 per cent, Tharoor asked why the nation should stop there. "We should also raise it to 50 per cent," he added.
However, Tharoor asserted on Monday that despite the doubled tariffs, the broader strategic partnership between India and the US would not be derailed.
After a parliamentary committee meeting with senior officials, the Congress MP said the Commerce Secretary had assured members that the “the process of dialogue is ongoing” and that the committee was “fairly satisfied” with the government’s responses.