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'He has his own reasons': Shashi Tharoor on Rahul Gandhi backing Trump’s ‘dead economy’ remark
Shashi Tharoor said India must protect its strong trade ties with the US, adding that America is one of the country’s biggest export markets.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he would not comment on Rahul Gandhi’s remarks about US President Donald Trump’s “dead economy” comment, but said India’s trade ties with America are important and should not be affected.
Tharoor, who represents Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha, said, “I don't want to comment on what my party leader has said. He has his own reasons for saying it. My concern is much more that our relationship with the US, as a strategic and economic partnership, is important for us.”
The Congress leader said India must protect its strong trade ties with the US, emphasising that America is one of the country’s biggest export markets, with around $90 billion worth of goods going there annually.
“We are exporting something like 90 billion worth of goods to America. We can't therefore be in a position where we are going to lose that or have it diminish significantly. Some people say Oh, that is only 2 per cent of our GDP, but in terms of percentage of our exports, America is one of our largest markets,” he claimed.
On the issue of tariffs, Shashi Tharoor backed India’s trade negotiators, saying, “When we look at the tariff question, we must wish our negotiators strength and courage in working out a fair deal for India.”
“We should also be talking to other regions for exporting our goods. Then we could make up for some of what we might lose in the US. We have to support our negotiators,” Tharoor added.
Donald Trump recently stirred controversy by calling India’s economy “dead” while announcing new 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “India and Russia can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”
The remarks were seen as a sharp escalation in trade tensions and drew mixed responses from Indian politicians.
Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi appeared to agree with Trump’s view, saying India’s economy was indeed in poor shape. “I don’t care what Trump said. The reality is that India’s economy is dead. And it has been murdered by the BJP government,” he told reporters.
