New Delhi [India], September 6 : Former diplomat KP Fabian on Saturday weighed in on US President Donald Trump's remarks on India, tariffs, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's diplomatic response, calling Trump's comments contradictory and urging caution against taking them at face value.
On PM Modi's response to Trump speaking positively on India-US relations, Fabian said, "PM Modi has done the correct thing diplomatically, responding to a tweet in the best diplomatic fashion. But I do not think these two tweets make much of a difference at this stage."
He added, "President Trump's style of arguing reminds me of Aristotle, who said that if you contradict yourself, then I don't have to contradict you. So President Trump has contradicted himself. First, he said that he has lost India to China. Now he says he hasn't lost it."
Warning against overreading Trump's remarks, Fabian said, "The tendency in India is to take seriously every statement, tweet or otherwise, by President Trump and to see in that statement a policy or change of policy. No, that is wrong."
Responding to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's assertion that India would eventually yield to Washington on tariffs, Fabian countered, "Well, let me put it this way. The Commerce Secretary has made an assessment that India will surrender. Well, I beg to differ. India is not going to surrender, and the Commerce Secretary, who is so confident today, will realise sooner or later, sooner the better, that that is not the case."
He further stressed the need for negotiations over threats, saying, "What is required is proper diplomatic give and take, respecting each other, negotiations between India and the United States on trade matters, not these public statements of threats."
On the Union Finance Ministry's stand over Russian oil trade, Fabian backed the position, remarking, "The Union Finance Ministry is guided solely by national interest. Whether it is Russian oil or anything else, we will take a call based on what suits our needs in terms of trade, logistics or whatever."
He dismissed Trump's justification for tariffs as baseless, stating, "Trump's ostensible reasoning for imposing tariffs on India is absolutely illogical and factually wrong. And he knows it. But that is his style."
Commenting on reports that Trump linked Modi's stance to his Nobel Peace Prize ambitions, Fabian observed, "Trump also calculated that India will say uncle in five minutes. That was another bigger miscalculation on the part of Trump."
On anti-immigrant protests in Australia, he echoed the MEA's position, saying, "Our High Commissioner has done the right thing. It is a matter of regret and shock and surprise that these protests should be taking place because Australia needs immigrants. But we can handle it, it doesn't matter. Let them protest, so long as there is no violence."
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor