Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that US President Donald Trump is completely independent to say that he wants to change the tariff structure, and India should also interact on it as it is capable of making a good deal.
Rahul Gandhi made these comments during a dialogue session at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs of Brown University in the US on 21 April. The video of this dialogue was uploaded on the YouTube channel of Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday.
Rahul Gandhi shared a video Montaz with the dialogue and said in a Facebook post on Monday, “India has measure and skills. Now we need a clear view – to build, lead and show the world to show that democracy and manufacturing should move together to give strength to the future. It is time to move from capacity to direction.”
Speaking in the conversation last month, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that the biggest challenge before India today is to create a production system, manufacture and create jobs to compete with China.
He said, “India is not going to be able to do so without a liberal economic system. Anyone who talks about weakening social progress (and) caste structures, also has to accept that you need money to do so. And the only way to earn money is to have a production system and an open liberal economy.”
When asked about his views about the Indian government’s response to President Trump’s tariff steps, Gandhi said, “We don’t know how it is reacting because he (government) does not tell us these things.” Donald Trump is interacting, and interaction is within his rights, Gandhi said “we should talk immediately.”
He said, “We should understand what our strength is, (and) what we need, and we should not compromise in areas that are harmful to us. They (Trump) have the right to say that they want to change the tariff structure, and this is a conversation; it is fine. I think we are able to negotiate ourselves for a decent deal.” He said that America and India need to show how they can effectively produce in a democratic environment. Gandhi said, “It is something to develop a strategy on manufacturing between India and the US and a strategy on manufacturing in a democratic environment.”