Trump’s tariff shock sparks fierce Opposition response in India

A political storm erupted on Thursday after former US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports and made controversial remarks about the Indian economy and its ties with Russia Reacting on his post prominent Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi Shashi Tharoor Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rajeev Shukla attacked the Centrersquos handling of foreign and economic policiesIn a fiery post on Truth Social the US President said ldquoI dont care what India does with Russia They can take their dead economies down together for all I carehellip India has among the highest tariffs in the worldrdquoHe also warned former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to watch his words and not enter dangerous territoryReacting to Trumprsquos dead economy remark Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said he agreed with the US Presidents statementldquoEverybody knows the Indian economy is dead except the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister Irsquom glad President Trump stated a factrdquo Gandhi told reporters accusing the BJP of destroying the economy to benefit industrialists such as AdaniHe also questioned PM Modirsquos silence over Trumprsquos repeated claims mdash including mediating an IndiandashPakistan ceasefire the fall of Indian jets and now the steep tariff hikeldquoWhy is the Prime Minister not responding Who is really in controlrdquo Gandhi questionedVIDEO On US President Donald Trump calling the Indian economy a dead economy Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi RahulGandhi says Yes he is right I mean everybody knows this except PM Modi and the Finance Minister It is a dead economy I am glad that the UShellip pictwittercom8r0kLdFEsVmdash Press Trust of India PTI_News July 31 2025Meanwhile Congress MP Shashi Tharoor warned that the tariffs and additional penalties on Russian oil imports could severely damage bilateral tradeldquoThis could destroy our trade with America The talks are ongoing but if the tariffs stay at 25 per cent or rise further to 35 per cent or even 100 per cent it will be devastatingrdquo he said urging the US to consider Indias economic realities and needsWATCH Delhi On trade negotiations between the US and India Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says It is a challenging negotiation We are negotiating with many countries The US is not the only negotiation We have ongoing negotiations with the EU we already concluded a dealhellip pictwittercomtl85WKiMjWmdash ANI ANI July 31 2025Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took a swipe at PM Modi stating ldquoThe Prime Minister goes everywhere makes friends and then this is what we get The country must respond to Trumprsquos tariff move and his claims about averting war with PakistanSamajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav called it the beginning of bad days for the Indian economyldquoThis government kept boasting of international friendships But now our youth need jobs and a strong economy not foreign policy failuresrdquo he said according to ANIMeanwhile Trump reiterated during a White House press briefing that India remains one of the highest tariffimposing nationsldquoWersquore talking to them now But their tariff rates have been as high as 175 per cent itrsquos unacceptablerdquo he saidAs India and the US continue trade negotiations pressure mounts on the Modi government to respond to both the economic and diplomatic fallout from Trumprsquos aggressive statementsResponding to former US President Donald Trumprsquos controversial comment labelling the Indian economy as ldquodeadrdquo Congress MP Rajeev Shukla rejected the claim calling it ldquocompletely incorrectrdquoldquoThe Indian economy is not dead Major reforms began under PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh were carried forward by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and further strengthened during Singhrsquos tenure Even the current government has continued to work on economic developmentrdquo Shukla saidldquoIf someone believes India can be finished economically they are clearly under a delusion Imposing tariffs is not the answer Every sovereign nation has the right to choose its trade partners Targeting BRICS or Russiarelated imports is unfair and misguidedrdquo he addedWATCH Delhi Congress MP Rajeev Shukla says Trump saying that the economies of India and Russia are dead is wrong The Indian economy is not dead Economic reforms were made when PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh were there Atal Bihari Vajpayee took those reformshellip pictwittercomUZ0lLvRzZYmdash ANI ANI July 31 2025Meanwhile Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also criticised Trumprsquos remarks via a post on X writingldquoNot that it needs sayingmdashtheres ample legitimate data to show that India is among the top 5 global economies and one of the fastestgrowing Calling it a lsquodead economyrsquo reflects either arrogance or ignorance Thank you for your attention to this matterrdquoNot that one needs to say it therersquos enough legitimate data available to know that Indian economy is in the top 5 of the world and one of the fastest growing economies Calling it a dead economy can only come from a position of arrogance or ignorance Thank you for your attentionhellipmdash Priyanka Chaturvedi priyankac19 July 31 2025With ANI inputs