Congress MP Shashi Tharoor strongly contradicted by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Indiannomics recently termed also as “dead.” Just after announcing a 25% tariff on Indian imports on grounds of India’s defense and energy trade with Russia and what he termed excessively high tariffs by India whenever U.S. imports are involved, Trump said “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care.”
In response to the allegation, Tharoor said, “Absolutely not, everyone knows it,” referring to India’s economy as faltering, and emphasized that statements of this nature by Trump are misleading and injurious to bilateral trade relations.
#WATCH | Delhi: On US President Donald Trump’s ‘India is a dead economy remark, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, “… This is not the case and we all know it.” pic.twitter.com/lili93gZUp
— ANI (@ANI) August 1, 2025
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sarcastically lauded this utterance by Trump as a pinprick to the Indian government, Tharoor took a more measured response and concentrated on considering the economic fallout of the new tariffs imposed.
Economic Implications and Diplomatic Ramifications
Tharoor has earlier branded Trump’s increased tariff as a serious matter in terms of India’s trade. He cautioned that the overall load including penalties could have duties heading up to 45% or even higher.
“There’s even talk of a 100% penalty, which would destroy our trade with America,” he noted. Given that the United States is one of India’s largest export markets, such tariffs could severely affect sectors like textiles, pharmaceuticals and IT services.
According to Tharoor, ongoing trade talks might give some respite but if penalties continue, India may face huge losses in exports. He also pointed out that this comes just before Trump’s announced deadline of 1 August, at which point he is supposed to impose these reciprocal duties, raising the whole issue of potentially political motivations behind the timing.
Deeper geopolitical rifts are reflected in Trump’s charges that India has connections with Russia and high import duties; though they’re economic, they’re more political provocations. Indeed, it can be claimed that dead economies applies neither to national nor budgetary purposes since developments demonstrating a prosperous view have confirmed robust GDP growth projections, increased foreign investments nowadays twin sovereign bonds with rising foreign investments, and resilient industrial output.
Tharoor’s retort to Trump’s statements underlines India’s stance in defending its reputation as a global economy. In an age when international trade keeps transforming with an unprecedented rapidity, maintaining facts and fettering oneself to political rhetoric remain vital in saving international partnerships and investor confidence.
“There’s even talk of a 100% penalty, which will destroy our trade with America… The trade negotiations are underway, and there is a possibility that it may come down. If it doesn’t, it will damage our exports, because America is a very big market for us,” news agency ANI quoted Shashi Tharoor as saying.
