"Weathered far more serious crises in past": Manish Tewari slams Trump tariffs, urges Centre not to "bow down"

New Delhi [India], August 31 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari expressed concerns about the impact of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on India and urged the Centre to show "spine" and not "bow down" to American pressure, recalling India's past experiences in dealing with similar situations.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Tewari criticised Trump's policy of "isolationism," saying it's damaging the US-led security architecture established after World War II in 1945.
"It's a painful situation, some parts of the Indian economy will get hurt, but under no circumstances should we bow down to questura (Italian word for police force); the government should stand up straight, demonstrate spine, we have weathered far more serious crises in the past," Tewari said.
Tewari emphasised the need for dialogue with the US government, highlighting India's "people-to-people" relationship with the US, which predates the current government relationship.
"We have a natural syncretic relationship with them, a people-to-people relationship with them, which predates even a warm government relationship, which only started in 1998 when the Jaswant Singh reset took place. We should try and persevere, but under no circumstances can or should India concede on its vital economic interest," he said.
Tewari suggested widening strategic choices and economic frameworks to navigate the complex relationship, terming it "50 shades of grey".
"This is a binary; there are always 50 shades of grey between black and white. Yes, it is a tough situation, and in this situation, everything needs to be done. To widen our strategic choices and economic framework," he said.
The US imposed 25% tariffs on Indian goods, which were later increased to 50%, citing India's purchase of Russian oil and alleged funding of Ukraine's war.
The tariffs are likely to harm India's economy, particularly in sectors such as textiles and IT.
Tewari emphasised that the 50% US tariffs on India are unjustified and will hurt both countries' economies.
"Well, President Trump, in the quest for American isolationism, is gutting the entire US security architecture, which the United States constructed very assiduously post the Second World War in 1945. While India and Brazil are in the highest tariff bracket for reasons that are completely inexplicable and totally extraneous, other countries have also been bearing the brunt. Switzerland was in the 39 per cent bracket," Manish Tewari told ANI.
He emphasised that key US allies worldwide are losing trust in the country, which will ultimately harm US foreign and economic policies.
"So under those circumstances, this is not only reconfiguring the economic architecture of the world, but this is reconfiguring the security architecture of the world as well. No longer, countries or US allies, whether in Europe, North Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, Australia convinced that the United States is a reliable partner so there the Trump presidency, by the time it ends would have ended up doing so much of damage to US foreign and strategic policy that it will take decades to be able to reclaim that trust," Tewari said.
He suggested widening strategic choices and economic frameworks to navigate the complex relationship with the US. India is accelerating free trade agreements with the EU, UK, and others to reduce dependence on the US market.
Tewari referenced the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) developed by PM Jawaharlal Nehru and the "self-reliance" policy by PM Indira Gandhi as cornerstones of India's economic and foreign policy.
"To try and build on the two individual postulates which were inunciated by Prime Minister Nehru, which is Non Alignment and called multi alignment today and by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called Atma Nirbharta (Self Reliance) today. Eventually, when the chips are down, you are falling back to those maxims which have been the cornerstone of India's economic and foreign policy," he said. (ANI)