Thiruvananthapuram:

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday defended his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his meeting with US President Donald Trump, stating that he spoke with India’s interests in mind and that “we cannot always speak only in terms of party interest.” Speaking to reporters, Tharoor said that Modi’s US visit had yielded some positive outcomes for the Indian people.

He also noted that Modi being the fourth world leader to meet Trump after he took office underscored India’s growing importance on the global stage.

At the same time, he pointed out that the visit left some questions unanswered, such as why the issue of how illegal immigrants were returned to India was not addressed.

“Did PM Modi raise it behind closed doors? In diplomacy, not everything is laid out publicly,” said Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram.

Welcoming the agreement to hold trade and tariff negotiations over the next nine months, Tharoor remarked, “It’s far better than Washington hastily and unilaterally imposing tariffs on us, which could have hurt our exports. To my mind, something good has been achieved, and I applaud that as an Indian. We can’t always speak only in terms of party interests. I am not a party spokesman.” Tharoor emphasised that as an elected MP representing Thiruvananthapuram, he speaks as a responsible stakeholder in Indian democracy and on behalf of those who have placed their trust in him to exercise his judgment and speak fairly and freely on certain issues.

“In this particular case, I am speaking solely in the national interest,” he added.

Tharoor further stated that throughout his 16-year political career, his approach has remained consistent; acknowledging and praising good governance, regardless of the party in power, while also criticising when necessary.

“When someone in government, whether from the Congress or any other party, does something right, it should be acknowledged and praised. When they do something wrong, it should be criticised,” he said.

“I have done both-I have praised and I have criticised. In fairness, I base my stance on facts. That I believe is the right approach.” He added that consistently praising or criticising the government would undermine his credibility.

“If I were to praise all the time, no one would take me seriously. If I were to criticise all the time, no one would take me seriously either,” he explained.

Tharoor also criticised the tendency of political parties to oppose each other reflexively.

“The real problem arises when the opposition believes everything the government does is wrong, and when the government believes everything the opposition says is wrong,” he said.

“There has to be some give and take in a democracy,” he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US marks a significant milestone in the strengthening of ties between the two nations. This “official working visit” makes Mr Modi the fourth foreign leader to be hosted by the White House since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025. Notably, this is the earliest visit by an Indian Prime Minister in the presidency of any US President in the near past.

Considering how the India-US relationship might pan out with Mr Trump being fickle, John Lipinski, director of elections at NBC News, said that Mr Trump focussed a lot on the ‘America First’ campaign and similarly he is focussing on economic issues, particularly trade, and immigration issues for the same reason. He added that these issues are going to be very consequential for India.

He also said that although India is an ally, Mr Trump’s behaviour has been seen as “out of portfolio” with allies too, considering how even a strong relationship with Canada could not save the latter from tariffs and even on the immigration front. He said that “Trump wants concessions, and he wants concessions from friends”.

Anirudh Suri of India Internet Fund said that since a lot of advisors of Mr Trump’s second administration are not DC based, “Economic interest arising out of, let’s say, Silicon Valley and other corporations in the US will play a very different role in determining policy towards India versus what we had seen in the Biden administration where the DC policy crew was driving the India relationship.” He also added that this time, the relationship will hold commercial value strongly from the US side as well, “We know that president Trump is very keen that India buy more military equipment from The United States, and that’s going to be a big aspect, looking at China as well.”

Overall, Mr Modi’s visit to the US is a significant opportunity for the two nations to strengthen their ties and address key issues in their bilateral relationship. With the visit taking place early in Mr Trump’s presidency, it is primarily about reaffirming relations with the US, rather than addressing long-term fissures in the relationship.
 

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, during the India-US CEO Forum, in Washington DC, USA.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India-U.S. trade relations would not be impacted by former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposing a  universal 20% import tariff for goods coming into the U.S., suggesting that it was campaign rhetoric.

Also read: ‘India not an ‘abuser’ of tariffs, Trump’s claims unfair,’ says think tank GTRI

 “I don’t think comments made during an election determine our relations,” Mr. Goyal said, during a press conference on Thursday evening in Washington DC towards the end of his three day visit to the U.S.

Mr Trump has proposed a universal 20% tariff on imports into the U.S., with a higher rate of 60-100% on Chinese imports.

The Modi government had had good relations with the administrations of Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama and that things were getting progressively better, the Union Minister said.

Mr. Trump , during a campaign event on September 18, had described India as “very tough” and a  “big abuser” in the US-India trade context.

Mr. Goyal said that India looked at the U.S. as one of the “most reliable trade partners” and “outstanding” trade partner, with whom trade was expanding in every dimension.

“And we deeply value this relationship,” he said.

Defends India’s tariff regime

Mr. Goyal, defended India’s tariff regime in reference  to remarks made by  former  Trump administration US Trade Representative (USTR) Bob Lighthizer. The official had in his 2023 book praised Mr. Goyal but called India “the most protectionist country”.

Mr. Goyal responded to this on Thursday (October 3, 2024) saying that every country protects certain goods based on its national interest and based on the offensive action of certain other countries. The U.S., he said, had an import tariff rate of some 163% on peanut butter, to protect its farmers.

Mr. Goyal said that in a world of MFN (Most Favoured Nation) duties, one had to look at which countries were dumping  products in India , presumably referring to China, among  other countries.

The minister said since the MFN rate applied to all countries (i.e., the 166 countries that operate under World Trade Organisation rules), so free trade agreements were the work-around to these rates.

“The MFN rate applies to all, and some countries may find it hurting them. The best way forward is for us to do a free trade agreement, and that is what India is doing with many countries,” he said, adding that this was the only way for a country to have differential tax rates with its trade partners.

“Bob [ Lighthizer ] understands that very well,” Mr. Goyal said, adding that if India were to lower tariffs on certain goods for the benefit of the U.S, a third country might receive the benefit.