Rahul Gandhi backs Trump's tariff stand, says India must negotiate firmly

At an interactive session in the US, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said Donald Trump has every right to push for tariff changes, but India must negotiate confidently to secure a fair deal

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has said that US President Donald Trump is within his rights to push for changes in the tariff structure, and India should respond by negotiating confidently to secure a fair deal.

 

Gandhi made these remarks on April 21 during an interactive session at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in the United States. The video was uploaded to the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute on Saturday.

 

 

Commenting on Trump’s approach, Gandhi said, “Donald Trump is negotiating, and he is well within his rights to negotiate. We should negotiate right back.”

 

“We should understand what our strengths are, what we need, and we should not compromise in areas that are detrimental to us. He is well within his rights to say that he wants to change the tariff structure, and it’s a negotiation; it’s fine. I think we are more than capable enough to negotiate ourselves a decent deal,” Gandhi said. 

 

When asked about the Indian government’s response to the US tariff demands, Gandhi said, “We don’t know how it is responding because they [the government] don’t tell us these things.”

 

He further said that India needs to build a strong production system to compete with China and to create jobs. He stressed that this cannot happen without a liberalised economy.

 

“India is not going to be able to do that without a liberalised economic system. Anybody who talks about social progress and weakening caste structures also has to accept that you need money to do that. And the only way you are going to make money is by having a production system and by having an open liberalised economy,” he said.

 

He also highlighted the potential of an India-US partnership in manufacturing. “A partnership between India and the US on manufacturing and developing a strategy on manufacturing in a democratic environment is something that could be very powerful,” Gandhi said.

 

[With agency inputs]