We’re no ‘dead economy’: Modi sends clear message to Trump

'Better late than never’, goes the saying and most Indians must have been relieved to see Prime Minister Modi finally sending a veiled barb to US President Donald Trump after his recent shocking comment on India being a ‘dead economy’. This comment hurts even more in the context of the prediction by our financial institutions that India will become a Dollar five trillion economy by as early as 2027.

Trump, going his utterances, seems to consider him self the ‘self-declared policemen’ of the world and also an eminent contender for the next Nobel Peace Prize and has been making life uncomfortable for India’s political leadership in recent months. He has spared no opportunity to claim credit for halting the May, 2025 India-Pak conflict following the dastardly Pahalgam terror attack, saying he was the one who stopped the faceoff from going nuclear.

All this is happening despite the fact that Modi had done his best to build bridges of friendship with Trump, particularly during his first term as president. Most people remember his famous Madison Square speech, the ‘Howdy Modi’ rally in Texas and his unabashed support for Trump during his presidential campaign. All that seems to have been conveniently forgotten amid the hard realities of the emerging global order, where the US regime is pushing for tariffs which tend to disrupt the entire world order and push developing countries including India into a corner.

What Mr Trump seems to be forgetting is that for countries like India which bore the yoke of colonialism for centuries, economic sovereignty is an absolute must on which they would not dare to compromise. India has done enough to keep ties with the US on an even keel, shrugging away all the barbs on the Indo-Pak conflict and also the recent one on helping Pakistan find oil! It is obvious from such posturing that the US administration is trying to engage in the age old diplomatic ploy of keeping powerful nations un der check by overtly or covertly backing their hostile neighbours.

There are millions of Indians working and studying in the US and our government is committed to protect their interests. But they are those who contribute hugely to the US economy and are an invaluable part of many sectors, whether it be health, defense or services in that country. Even while ensuring that their interests are safe guarded, our leadership will have to send out a clear and unambiguous message to the Trump government that we are capable of taking care of the interests of our industry, trade and exporters come what may from the battle over tariffs.

Such tough postures are an absolute must to send out the right signals to an administration which seems to be more than keen to ride roughshod over the world economy to safeguard its own interests. The options we have are many - promote the development and marketing of indigenous goods and explore alternative markets in case exports to the US prove to be no more profitable.

There are many countries and blocs in the world which have borne the brunt of the US tariff war and forging mutually beneficial ties with them and ensuring that we always have alternatives to fall back upon, could be the best ways to counter Trump’s maniacal trade moves.