The United States’ move to impose reciprocal tariffs on Indian exports “is going to devastate our economy”, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha today. Criticising the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy, he said, “You have given China 4,000 sq km of land. On the other side, our ally suddenly decides to impose tariffs on us, 26 per cent, which is going to completely destroy our economy. Our auto industry, our pharmaceutical industry. They are all on the line.”
Mr Gandhi then referred to Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister and his grandmother, and said someone once asked her if she leaned left or right when it came to foreign policy. “Indira Gandhi said, ‘I don’t lean left or right. I stand straight. I am Indian and I stand straight’. The BJP and RSS have a different philosophy. When asked if they lean left or right. They say, ‘no no no, we bow our heads right in front of every foreigner that comes,” he said, seeking a reply from the Centre on how it plans to tackle the tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration.
On the China issue, Mr Gandhi said, “It is a known fact that China is sitting on 4,000 square kilometres of our territory. I was shocked sometime back to see that our foreign secretary was cutting a cake with the Chinese ambassador. The question is what exactly is happening to this territory? Twenty jawans were martyred; their martyrdom is being celebrated by cutting a cake?” Mr Gandhi asked, referring to the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020 that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead.
The Congress leader said the Opposition was not against the return of normalcy in the bilateral ties. “We are not normalcy. But before normalcy, we should get our land back,” he said.
Countering Mr Gandhi’s China charge, BJP MP Anurag Thakur questioned which government lost the Aksai Chin region to China. China’s incursions in Aksai Chin led to the 1962 war during Jawaharlal Nehru’s tenure as Prime Minister. India lost the war. “We kept saying ‘Hindu Chini Bhai Bhai’ and they stabbed us in the back,” he said.
Earlier, US President Trump had said Prime Minister Modi was a “great friend” but described the tariffs imposed by New Delhi as “very, very tough”. “Their Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) just left (US recently)… he is a great friend of mine, but I said to him that ‘you’re a friend of mine, but you’ve not been treating us right’. India charges us 52 per cent, so we will charge them half of that – 26 per cent,” he said.
According to a PTI report, the Commerce Ministry is still analysing the impact of the reciprocal tariffs. “The ministry is analysing the impact of the announced tariffs,” an official said, adding that there is a provision that if a country addresses the concerns of the US, the duties can be reduced.
