New Delhi (India) August 7 : Revolutionary Socialist Party MP NK Premachandran has strongly criticised US President Donald Trump's decision to impose an additional 25% tariff on India over Russian oil purchases. Speaking to the ANI on Thursday, Premachandran said that Trump's statements lack consistency and are aimed at threatening and insulting India's sovereign character.
"There is no consistency in the statements of President Trump. He is one way or the other threatening and insulting the sovereign character of our country. It is not for America to decide whether we should purchase oil from Russia or from other countries." Premachandran told ANI.
He welcomed the Government of India's response to the situation, saying, "The latest response from the GoI is a welcome step that we have to face the consequences and see the alternative measures to overcome this issue.."
The MP stated that Trump and PM Modi's friendship does not seem to be yielding any benefits for India. " We are always narrating that President Trump is a friend of our Prime Minister, but that does not seem to help, and hence, we need to review the diplomatic strategy. America can never be relied upon be it trade or anything else...", Premachandran said.
Premachandran further said that with India can overcome the challenge just as in 1998, when the country faced international sanctions after conducting nuclear tests. "We will be able to overcome this, like in 1998, when the Pokhran explosion resulted in India being banned by other countries, and we overcame.."
The MP also demanded that India impose reciprocal tariffs on the US in response to Trump's move. "Russia has already supported the cause of India saying it is not a third country to determine this... Reciprocal tariff must be imposed by India as well... We are expecting GDP growth rate by 6.5% and with this the case, it will come down to 6.1%..," Premachandran said.
Additionally, Premachandran mentioned that the INDIA bloc will discuss the upcoming Bihar elections, saying, "We will discuss the political leaders, upcoming Bihar elections..."
US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on August 6 imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India. Trump cited matters of national security and foreign policy concerns, as well as other relevant trade laws, for the increase, claiming that India's imports of Russian oil, directly or indirectly, pose an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
Terming the United States' move to impose additional tariffs on India over its oil imports from Russia as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declared that New Delhi will take "all actions necessary to protect its national interests.
In further development, a senior United States Administration Official told ANI that there is simply "no comparison" between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil and the modest US imports of Russian goods.
In response to a question, the US official told ANI, "There is simply no comparison between the hundreds of billions of dollars of growing Indian imports of Russian oil, and the modest U.S. imports of Russian goods, which amount to less than 1% of the value of Indian imports".