Need to support negotiators on US tariff talks: Shashi Tharoor

Mumbai, Aug 2 Amid turbulence triggered by US tariff hikes, Congress MP and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor said on Saturday that it is time to support our negotiators to bring us a good result by protecting national interests and showing some flexibility.

Speaking at the sidelines of the launch of his book ‘Our Living Constitution’, the former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations said, “We need to preserve an export market in America. But we should also be talking to other countries and regions where we are exporting.”

He said that with talks with the EU and Japan and with the help of the trade agreement with the UK, the country can make up, to some degree, what we may end up losing in the US.

Cautioning against losing out on the export market in the US, he said, “We can’t lose everything. We have to preserve some things. To my mind, this is the task for which we have to support our negotiators to bring us a good result.”

Refusing to react to party leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the government over US trade talks, the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said, “My concern is that this relationship with the US, as a strategic partnership and as an economic relationship, is important for us.”

“We are exporting something like $90 billion worth of goods to America. We can’t, therefore, be in a position where we are going to lose that,” he said.

Some people say that it is just 0.2 per cent of our GDP, but in terms of the percentage of exports, America is one of our largest markets, he said.

Urging support for Indian negotiators, Tharoor said, “We must wish our negotiators strength and courage in working out a fair deal for India… in negotiation, you give some, you take some. There’s got to be some flexibility we need to show.”

“At the same time, some questions of national interest cannot cross,” he said.

Earlier this week, Trump announced 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods. He said India would also face an additional tariff penalty for buying Russian oil.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed the resilience of the Indian economy amid turbulence triggered by US tariff hikes, saying that the country must remain vigilant about its economic interests and adopt ‘swadeshi’ products.

According to PM Modi, the government is doing everything it can in the best interest of the country.

On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India and the US share a comprehensive global strategic partnership anchored in shared interests, democratic values, and robust people-to-people ties, with the partnership having weathered several transitions and challenges.

--IANS

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