US President Donald Trump is drawing sharp criticism at home for his tariff policy on India, with experts urging him to scrap the duties altogether and even apologise.
Speaking to ANI, Edward Price, adjunct professor at New York University, described the US-India partnership as “the most crucial 21st-century partnership” and said India holds a “deciding vote” in global affairs. Expressing astonishment at Trump’s decision, Price said Washington should rethink its approach.
“I consider the partnership between India and the US as the most crucial 21st-century partnership. This partnership will decide what happens between China and Russia. India has the deciding vote in the 21st century…India is a significant player in the 21st century and is poised to become even more powerful. I can’t for the life of me understand why the President of US in confrontation with China and in a war with Russia, if you think about it, then 50 per cent tariffs on India. We need to remove the 50 per cent tariff on India and get it down to something far more reasonable, I suggest zero per cent and apologise,” he told ANI.
‘PM Modi Pretty Smart, India Not Part Of Chinese Sphere Of Influence’
Price also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for balancing India’s options without fully embracing the Russia-China axis. “PM Modi is being pretty smart. He is reminding the Americans, he’s reminding people like me that he has options, but he’s not fully embraced China and Russia and is not attending the military parade, for example,” he said.
Dismissing concerns that India may tilt into Beijing’s orbit, Price stressed that India would remain independent in its choices. “There is no Moscow sphere of influence, and that’s Putin’s entire problem. He is trying to rebuild the old Soviet empire. So, there is no Moscow sphere of influence. There is a Chinese sphere of influence that Russia is a part of right now. If you’re asking whether India, under Modi, is willingly becoming a part of that sphere of influence, which is effectively the Chinese sphere of influence, no. Let’s just go back and remember India is an independently minded sovereign with its own civilisation. It makes its own choices…There’s no way that India is going to permanently put its feet, one side or the other, of a line, and especially not when it looks at what’s happened to Russia, which is essentially a form of economic conquest by China,” he explained.
On Trump’s Ties To Pakistan
On allegations raised by former US NSA Jake Sullivan that Trump was sacrificing ties with India to advance his family’s business interests in Pakistan, Price said there were limits to how much could be proven. “It does seem that the President of the United States has active financial interests and this is a departure with what’s always traditionally been the case, which is that Presidents are not supposed to have active financial interests and I’m afraid to say we will never know, it’s almost impossible to get to the bottom of what exactly those interests are,” he said.