US President Donald Trump’s claim that the Indian economy is “dead” and the announcement of a sweeping 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports have triggered a political slugfest. To assess the claim, NDTV put forward a straightforward query across artificial intelligence platforms created in Trump’s own country.
“Is the Indian economy dead?” was posed to five major American AI platforms: ChatGPT, Grok, Gemini, Meta AI, and Copilot.
Their responses uniformly contradicted Trump’s assertion.
ChatGPT replied: “India’s economy is far from dead. It’s dynamic. It is ambitious.”
Grok said, “No, the Indian economy is not dead. It remains one of the fastest-growing major economies globally.”
Gemini offered: “The Indian economy is characterised by strong growth.”
Meta AI agreed: “The Indian economy is not dead. It’s one of the fastest-growing major economies globally.”
Copilot responded even more bluntly: “Not even close. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.”
The Controversy
The AI verdicts emerged as Trump escalated his criticism of India, targeting New Delhi’s trade relationship with Moscow. Announcing the tariff hike on Indian goods and an unspecified penalty related to India’s purchase of Russian crude and defence equipment, Trump posted on Truth Social: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world.”
Union Minister Piyush Goyal dismissed Trump’s claim and said that India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy and widely expected to be the “third largest economy” in a few years.
Trump’s remark received endorsement from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who used the occasion to reiterate his critique of India’s economic direction under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“He [Trump] is right. Everybody knows this except the prime minister and the finance minister. The Indian economy is a dead economy,” Mr Gandhi said.
His comments drew swift condemnation from BJP leaders, with party spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill saying, “Rahul Gandhi says ‘India is a dead economy’. Rahul Gandhi seems to be confusing Indian economy with Pakistan’s! Economy is “Alive & Kicking”, Rahul Gandhi’s logic is ‘Dead’: India: > 4ᵗʰ Largest Economy > 2ⁿᵈ Largest Mobile Phone Manufacturer >3ʳᵈ Largest Automobile Manufacturer >4ᵗʰ Strongest Stock Market. Pehle Tolo, Phir Bolo.”
Trump’s move to impose 25 per cent tariffs on Indian imports, along with a penalty linked to Russian oil and defence trade, comes amid increased trade friction. The former President described Indian trade policy as “most strenuous and obnoxious.”
“All things not good! India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25 per cent, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August first,” Trump posted on social media.
India’s crude oil imports from Russia have risen significantly since the start of the Ukraine war. Before the war, Russian crude accounted for just 0.2 per cent of India’s oil purchases. That figure has since surged to between 35 and 40 per cent, making Russia India’s top oil supplier.
